


We all fall (Febuwhump One-Shots)

by Rosemary_and_Time



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Best Friends, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Death, Dream Team SMP Spoilers, Family Dynamics, FebuWhump2021, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Hallucinations, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mind Control, Murder, No Romance, Oneshot Prompts Challenge, Panic Attacks, Past Character Death, Poisoning, Self-Sacrifice, So many more - Freeform, Toby Smith | Tubbo is Not Okay, TommyInnit Swears (Video Blogging RPF), Traumatized Tommyinnit (Video Blogging RPF), Violence, Winged Alexis | Quackity, each prompt is a differnt au for the most part, so tags wont be accurate for all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29124258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosemary_and_Time/pseuds/Rosemary_and_Time
Summary: My take on this year's Febuwhump prompts! (2021)Each chapter is a separate story inspired by the prompts, about the dream smp characters and story-lines.I have quite a few already written, and look forward to finally getting to share them!If you like angst, hurt/comfort, or cannon divergence from recent events on the smp, this will have it.
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Jschlatt, Alexis | Quackity & Karl Jacobs & Sapnap, Alexis | Quackity & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Alexis | Quackity & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Alexis | Quackity & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Darryl Noveschosch & Sapnap, Clay | Dream & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Darryl Noveschosch & Sapnap, Dream SMP Ensemble & TommyInnit, Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo, No Romantic Relationship(s), Skeppy & BadBoyHalo, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Technoblade, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Technoblade & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Tommyinnit & Tubbo, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit, Zak Ahmed & Darryl Noveschosch, Zak Ahmed & Sapnap
Comments: 154
Kudos: 400
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	1. Day 1: Mind Control

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!  
> This is a collection of stories I've written around this years Febuwhump prompts.
> 
> IMPORTANT: There will be trigger warnings before each chapter, but violence, blood, and descriptions of injuries will be in most stories and thus not in those notes. 
> 
> These stories are entirely about the characters on the Dream Smp, nothing about real people.  
> There is no romance or any ships in this work.  
> I really hope you enjoy! I've put a lot of time and effort into these stories, and many are over 3k words or more. Chapter summaries will include the main characters for each story!  
> Have fun!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream and his friends find a weird mask in a temple.  
> But when he puts it on...  
> he starts to lose control.
> 
> Dream Team centric, Tommy, Tubbo, Technoblade, Wilbur, and Badboyhalo also featured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter!!!
> 
> TW: mind control, de-realization, loss of control, mention of vomiting

“Look what I found!” George shouted exuberantly, clearly proud about whatever he had discovered. 

Dream made sure to sigh in mock annoyance loudly enough for his friend to hear, but still clambered through the broken stone to see whatever it was he was so excited about. He lightly hopped over a gap in the floor, the ruined temple was hazardous, but that’s what made it so thrilling to find and loot. 

“What is it?” Sapnap reached George slightly before him, making an attempt to snatch the object out of the older man’s hands. George yanked back, scolding Sapnap loud enough to make Dream’s head start to ache. But what else was new with these two?

Despite the mild annoyance, Dream still caught himself smiling under his mask, white painted ceramic hiding his features. These were his best friends, more like brothers than anything. He was used to their antics by now. 

George squealed as Sapnap made another attempt at stealing his treasure, high pitched outrage echoing in the stone halls. He stumbled backwards and nearly knocked Dream over, immediately dashing behind him.

“Dream!!! Made him stop!” Sapnap stood in front of him with a mischievous grin, dark eyes reflecting the torchlight. 

“Just show us George.” Dream groaned and shoved Sapnap back as he tried to get past him.

“Yeah Georgie, show us!!” 

Once George was convinced Sapnap was being kept at bay, he stepped under the nearest torch, proudly holding up a dark oval object in both hands. 

“It’s a mask, and it looks kinda like yours Dream!” Dream had to admit, it did look similar. Thought the stone was painted pure black instead of white… George flipped it over, grinning as Sapnap gasped.

The front of the mask had a red frown painted on, simple dots and lines, just like Dreams. The red color was odd, it looked like the color of blood, and almost looked wet despite obviously having been down here for who knows how long. 

“Dude! There’s no way, you brought this down here as a prank, admit it!” Sapnap huffed and tried to call George’s bluff, but he wasn’t backing down.

“No, I found it, over there. Look at where it was if you don’t believe me, there’s a little nook just this shape.” Dream matched Sapnap’s skeptical expression, but he had to admit the spot where George had found it was pretty convincing. 

“You should put it on!” Apparently that was all it took to convince Sapnap, the younger man was bouncing around, dark hair falling loose into his face as he did. 

“Fine, just for a minute, this could be valuable.” Dream acquiesced and held out his hand, using the other to slip off his white mask and hang it on his belt. Around anyone else he wouldn’t have exposed his face for a moment, but George and Sapnap were the exceptions to the rule. Besides, they were alongside him when he got the scars, they wouldn’t stare. They had matching ones on their torso’s and arms from…

Well. The place they had all grown up wasn’t something Dream liked to think about often. 

When George handed over the mask it was heavier than Dream expected. He slowly slipped it over his face, fighting off a vague sense of unease. He expected it to be cold, like his mask was in the morning when he first put it on for the day, but it wasn’t. The stone of the mask was strangely warm as it brushed his face. It was a perfect fit. 

Suddenly Dream felt entirely comfortable, it was odd how nice the mask was. He realized he was just standing there, smiling contentedly, when Sapnap shoved his shoulder.

“Hey, what do you think?” 

Dream shook his head briskly and turned to his friends, tipping his head to the side in an intentionally jerky fashion. He got exactly the reaction he was hoping for when Sapnap stepped back and George shivered.

“That’s creepy Dream, stop it.” Dream wheezed as George whined, complaining about being made fun of. “Alright, you’ve had your fun, you should take it off now.”

“Nah.” Dream shrugged carelessly. “I’m gonna keep it on for a while, it fits really well anyway.”

As George continued to complain about Dream wearing it just to scare him, the three men packed up, getting ready to head home. 

Dream didn’t feel uneasy anymore.

* * *

_You and I, we’ve got all sorts of things to do_

_Power and blood_

_Let’s go somewhere fun_

_Your name is Dream?_

_A nightmare can start whenever we please_

Dream woke up wearing his new mask. He couldn’t remember exactly why he didn’t take it off the previous night, only that he felt anxious and uncomfortable when he started to remove it, so he didn’t. Somehow it fit well enough that it didn’t disrupt his sleep, it was almost like a second skin, comforting like a warm blanket. 

He groaned as someone called for him, loud knocking on his door forced him out of bed. Dream swung open the door, eliciting a yelp from Sapnap, who jumped back lightly into the hall. 

“Really dude, you’re still wearing that dusty thing?”

Dream only shrugged, why did he care what mask he wore?

“Techno is going to be so weirded out if you wear that to your training today.” Sapnap groaned while moving out of the doorway, leading the way to the kitchen. 

_Fighting?_

Dream felt a grin spread across his face, usual excitement for a fairly normal activity. 

He didn’t know why, but he really wanted to fight. He scarfed down his breakfast before grabbing his gear, dashing out the door as George and Sapnap gave brief goodbyes. 

Dream even jogged down the familiar trail to the training grounds, sliding into the dueling area with dopamine already flooding his veins. 

To his credit, Technoblade took the change of mask in stride, only briefly looking confused before he gestured to the two boys sitting off to the side of the field. 

“Tommy and Tubbo wanted to watch today, is that okay?” 

Dream nodded. He didn’t care, he just wanted to fight, he just needed to start fighting! 

A scowl crossed his hidden face as Technoblade delayed the fight further, stepping close enough to whisper.

“You okay Dream? You seem kind of… jittery today. We can train some other time if—”

“NO!” Dream practically shouted, hand already dropping to grasp the axe handle at his side. 

It was an odd feeling of disconnect as Dream recognized how oddly eager he was feeling… brief mental images of blood crossing his mind confused him. But then Techno had backed up and given the signal, and the fight had begun!

_Fight him Dream, then spill his blood._

* * *

Tubbo cheered along with Tommy as Technoblade landed a clean hit on Dream’s armor, twisting his sword at the last moment in order to not do any real damage. Dream was knocked to the ground by the force, an event that signaled the end of the round. 

Tubbo thought the new mask was… eerie to say the least. But Tommy wouldn’t shut up about how ‘badass’ it was, so he voiced patient agreements. It did make him look more threatening, though Tubbo wasn’t convinced that was a good thing. 

“Way to go Blade!!” Tommy pumped his fists as Techno sheathed his sword and reached down a hand to help Dream to his feet. 

Fairly normal stuff, Tubbo was getting bored already, his attention wandered as he watched an insect fly around Tommy’s blond hair, possibly mistaking it for a flower or something…

“Hey!” Tubbo’s focus flipped as the very air seemed to grow tense. Tommy stood up next to him, hand reaching for his as he stared at the field. Technoblade grunted in pain, tossing himself away from Dream as the other fighter took another swing at him, blood dripping off the edge of the axe. 

“What the hell Dream! You hadn’t started the match yet!” Tommy started shouting furiously into the practice area as Techno blocked with his shield, injured leg making it difficult to dodge at full speed. Dream continued to attack unrelenting, he… Tubbo’s heart chilled. Dream was out for blood. 

Technoblade seemed to realize it too.

“Tommy, Tubbo, run! Go now!” Techno meet the masked man’s next blow with an increasingly splintered practice shield, tone holding no room for argument. Tubbo gripped Tommy’s hand fiercely, turning and starting to drag him away into the woods. 

He tried to ignore the cut-off shout of pain from behind him. They had to get away. They had to get help.

The two boys fled as a shield finally broke.

* * *

Dream stood over all the blood with heaving shoulders. 

This was wrong.

_This was right._

He wanted to run away from what he had done, _he wanted to dip his hands in blood and enjoy the beauty of what he had created._

Technoblade lay still at his feet, the deep gash tearing into his neck was terrible _wonderful_.

Even as Dream mentally protested what he had done, tried to reason with himself and argue about how horrible of a crime he had committed, his face held a smile.

He couldn’t help it. The moment he killed Technoblade Dream felt a rush of endorphins completely unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It was almost like an out of body experience, like someone else was taking immense joy in the killing. 

But it was Dream. He was feeling the joy and oh god he wanted to vomit, to wash and shower until he was clean and go to bed so this would just be a nightmare.

_Nightmare._

_There are more to kill._

Dream was aware of the direction the two boys had run in the forest, but he didn’t want to go there, why would he?

_It would be good to kill._

It would be good. 

Dream was already sprinting down the path, Technoblade’s sword in his hand, before he decided to do so. 

If I follow them, I can explain, stop them from getting more people involved.

_Nothing to explain, kill them, enjoy it._

So soon there was rustling ahead of him, a red and white shirt, Dream sent the tall boy to the ground with an easy sweep of the legs. He glanced around through the mask as Tommy started to climb to his feet. Where was Tubbo? The other boy had seemingly vanished, but Dream wasn’t concerned. Where one of them was the other would be nearby.

He walked towards Tommy as the blond backed up, hands held out defensively until his back hit the unyielding trunk of a tree. 

“Hey Dream, hey big man.” Tommy’s voice was shaky, Dream felt revolted at how terrified the boy was. He was always so confident and boastful, and now he was scared of him. _Dream felt so happy to hear the fear._ His mind spun with contradiction. “Dream, please, I don’t know what’s going on but—”

_Kill._

Tommy’s words were cut off by a heart-rending scream of pain, Dream looked down, almost surprised to see the sword piercing through the boy’s gut, pinning him to the tree as it went straight through him to stick in the bark. Huh.

_Good. Yes, kill._

Dream hated, _relished,_ the broken cries that could be heard as he yanked the sword free, allowing Tommy to fall to the earth in a bloody heap.

“TOMMY!!” 

Ah, there he was. 

Dream turned, flicking the blood coated blade towards Tubbo as he ran forwards, eyes only fixed on where his best friend laid bleeding in the dirt. 

It was almost too easy. 

Tubbo staggered and dropped, gasping in pain as the sword opened a wide gash across his chest. Still the brunette crawled over to Tommy, leaning over him as if he could protect the taller boy with his own body. 

Dream allowed them to have a moment before he plunged the blade in Tubbo’s exposed back, the cry of pain it caused echoing through the forest. 

No one was around to hear it. 

Blood was drying on the warrior in the training grounds.

Dream walked away from the dying boys on the forest floor. 

He was far from in control. 

_Kill._

* * *

Badboyhalo sighed as he tidied up around the house that he and Skeppy shared, mentally bemoaning his housemate’s lack of organization skills. 

He turned to face the door when he heard it slam open, he was expecting Skeppy to come back any time now, he was working on getting some materials for a project. 

But it wasn’t Skeppy standing in his front hall. 

Bad took a hesitant step forward as he recognized Dream swaying in the doorway. His friend was wearing an… odd mask… but that in and of itself wasn’t what alarmed Bad. No, he was alarmed because his friend was covered in blood, the sword in his hand was dripping with it. 

“Dream? Dream are you okay?” Bad hurried the rest of the way across the room, mentally going over the potions he had, healing supplies already brewed and stored. 

“I’m not hurt.” Bad paused, tilting his head as his glowing eyes, pure white, evaluated Dream. The man shrugged, then shuddered. Bad stepped forward in time to support him, gently wrapping one of the man’s arms over his shoulder to keep him upright.

“What happened?”

Dream hesitated for a moment, then started shaking as he spoke.

“I… I found this mask yesterday. Something is wrong with it. I—” Dream’s voice broke, he sounded more upset than Bad had ever seen him. “I killed them. I killed them and I enjoyed it. What do you think of that Bad?”

Bad recoiled lightly before collecting himself.

“This isn’t you Dream, you wouldn’t hurt people, let’s get the mask off you and get you some help, okay?”

Dream took a step away from him and shook his head sadly. Suddenly he looked a lot more steady on his feet than he had a moment prior. 

“No Bad, you don’t understand. I killed them, and then I came here to kill you.” Bad didn’t have time to react before he heard a click and there was a sudden searing pain at the base of his neck. He stumbled backwards, hands clasping around the arrow that was imbedded in his throat. 

Dream stood in front of him with a crossbow, terrible frowning mask looking almost like the dotted eyes were following him as he dropped to his knees. 

Bad wheezed out a choked cry of pain, blood pushing past his lips as he did so. 

The mask was the last thing he saw before everything faded away.

The last thing he heard was the sound of faint laughter.

Bad hoped Skeppy would be home late.

* * *

Dream left the quartz house after Bad’s eyes were completely devoid of light. 

The part of him that rebelled against the violence, that felt horrified by what he had done kept getting quieter and weaker. The main influence pushed him to find more people to kill, more blood to spill.

It was easy enough to find someone else. Wilbur walked right up to him, asking if he had seen his brothers since training that morning. Dream was more than happy to lead him right to them, almost smugly taking him to the place in the woods the younger boys laid. 

Wilbur rushed to them, a pained cry of grief leaving his throat. He dropped next to their still bodies, eyes wide and uncomprehending. 

“How… why?” 

That tall man’s hand hovered over them, Tubbo still clinging to Tommy, even in death. 

Dream realized how smart Wilbur truly was when the elder looked up at him, resignation in his eyes. 

He knew he was dead before Dream even drew the blade. 

Wilbur Soot let himself fall into the dirt next to his brothers, gently draping an arm around them as he breathed his last. 

Dream walked away, the grin on his face nearly the opposite of the frown on his mask. 

* * *

The last remnants of Dream’s control kept tugging him away from the place he knew two people would be. 

Even as the force in the mask screamed at him to kill, he stayed away from his home, from the home he shared with his best friends. 

He didn’t doubt he would kill them, he wanted to kill them.

He had to stay away.

Unfortunately, they came to him. 

“Dream! Where have you been?” Sapnap ran up to him on the path, stopping short when he was close enough to see the blood coating his shirt. Sapnap held out his arm, forcing George to stop next to him, the brunette looked confused but allowed himself to be halted a fair distance away.

“We’ve been looking for you everywhere! Something’s happened and…” George finally seemed to notice that Dream was covered in blood. “Are you alright?” 

Dream tilted his head, a thousand words rushing in his head. 

“Of course, what’s going on?” He spoke lightly and innocently, a small part of him begging his two closest friends to catch on, to flee while they could. 

“Dream, Bad was killed. He’s dead and… you’re covered in blood.” Dream stepped forward, appreciating how Sapnap flinched back and cut off his words. George’s eyes were wide under his glasses, disbelief covering his features. 

“What… Why are you covered in blood Dream?” George’s tone was hollow, he tried to take a step towards him, only held back by Sapnap’s restraining grip on his upper arm.

“I…”

NO

Not them, not Sapnap and George. Dream would kill anyone else with pleasure, he caught himself mentally bargaining with whatever malicious force had taken his own mind over.

_Kill them. Blood. NOW!_

Sapnap threw himself in front of George in time to catch the first arrow on his shield, Dream growled in frustration.

_He needed blood, he needed it now!_

Please no, not them

_He wanted to see them bleed._

The two men were wearing their armor and armed, obviously aware there was a killer somewhere. There was no chance they were prepared for it to be Dream. 

He charged them on the wooden path, eagerly drawing his sword and shield as he ran forward. Sapnap meet him with a clash, giving George a moment to draw his own weapon. 

“Dream! Snap out of it!” Sapnap gritted his teeth as they exchanged the first few blows, parrying Technoblade’s stolen sword with his own. 

He was holding his own for the moment. 

The force was increasingly impatient. _He wanted them dead, needed them dead_. 

George started shooting arrows from the side, jumping off the path to get some distance. Dream sneered, he was obviously aiming to injure, to incapacitate Dream. That could be used. Dream dodged and weaved around the arrows, making himself as difficult as a target as he could while also keeping pace with Sapnap. 

The dark-haired man was equally hesitant to do Dream harm. It was pathetic. 

Dream stopped moving for a moment, giving George time to line up a shot, Sapnap jabbed his sword in a strike aimed for Dream’s arm. 

In a flurry of movement Dream dropped his shield, grabbing Sapnap’s arm with the free hand and yanking him closer. 

Please Sapnap, just do it… let this be over…

As expected, Sapnap twisted the sword to the side and dropped it rather than letting it connect on its new trajectory, pointed at Dream’s chest. The younger man cried out as an arrow not meant for him connected with his shoulder, wet thunk pleasing to Dreams ears. 

“Sapnap!!” George shouted an apology from the side, now hesitating to nock his next arrow on the bow. 

Sapnap, to his credit, gave more fight. Dream was prepared to end him then and there, but his old friend managed to maintain his grip on his own shield and slammed the iron frame into Dream’s side. The blow loosened Dream’s grip enough for Sapnap to dodge backwards, one arm now hanging uselessly at his side, arrow sticking out the back of his shoulder. 

“DREAM, STOP!!!” George shrieked at him as he charged Sapnap again, not giving him any time to recover. He only paused to regain his shield, easily keeping it between him and George as he rapidly wore down Sapnap’s defense. 

Sapnap swayed and stumbled, a shield his only reprise from the onslaught of blows. 

Dream grinned at the fear in his eyes, pressing his advantage for all it was worth. Soon Sapnap had small gashes on his arms and legs, he was starting to slow down. 

Then Dream kicked his legs out from under him. 

A bloody shriek tore from Sapnap’s throat as he dropped to his back, not able to keep the arrow in his shoulder from impacting the ground. Dream slashed his sword downward, a deep gash opened on Sapnap’s forearm, and the shield dropped from his hand. 

Dream didn’t manage to deliver the killing blow before George was there, desperately swinging his own weapon, trying to put any space between the masked killer and where Sapnap lay helpless on the wooden path. 

“Give us anything Dream, what’s going on? Please!” George gritted his teeth as Dream practically danced around him, far superior at fighting. 

Tell them. Please, let me tell them. 

“The… mask…” The words were a whisper, Dream didn’t think the other two even heard him. He wasn’t sure if he even did more than mouth them.

_Killing, it doesn’t matter, kill them, fight them._

“Did you kill Bad?” 

George still sounded like he couldn’t believe it, he sounded broken, so torn by his friend attacking him. Killing their friends, their family. 

“Yes!” The joy in Dream’s voice made him feel sick. “I shot him in the throat with an arrow!” 

George’s eyes hardened. 

“I’ll give you the choice Georgie, how would you like to die?” 

“Don’t call me that.” George believed it now. He started on the offensive, no longer fighting to injure or incapacitate, he matched Dream’s intent, pure kill-or-be-killed intensity. 

It didn’t help him in the end. 

There were no fancy tricks, no deception. Dream fought with pure skill, and he outclassed his friends in that regard by a mile. 

George stumbled away from the exchange with a deep stab wound on his thigh, straight through his armor. 

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!!” Sapnap threw himself back into the fray, sword aiming for Dream’s neck. 

Dream knocked the blow away with his shield, easily twisting Sapnap’s sword out of his hand, leaving him unarmed and defenseless. He grunted as pain erupted in his side. Turning, Dream drew his crossbow and fired in one fluid movement, it was already loaded and ready. He didn’t wait to see the arrow meet its mark, he knew it flew true. 

He saw Sapnap leaping forward from the corner of his eye, he twisted and easily brought his sword to bear. It was level with his torso, but Sapnap still moved forward, unprotected. 

A shriek tore through the air. 

There was an odd tugging sensation, and everything spun. 

Dream… floated… things were wrong… Where…. Why?

He focused his eyes just in time to see the mask shatter on the hard wood path, Sapnap tossing it down with the last of his energy. 

Dream reached forward, managing to catch him as he collapsed. 

“Dream?” Sapnap wheezed his name out, pain making his voice rough. 

“I… I’m here Sapnap, it’s really me now.” 

Carefully, as to not cause more pain, Dream lifted Sapnap and cradled him to his chest. He ignored the tugging pain in his side as he moved, he knew without looking the arrow wasn’t deep enough to do real harm. He almost wished it were. Dream walked over to where George sat limply against the hillside, head lolling back and blank brown eyes staring at the sky. The answering arrow had hit its mark, it stuck out from his chest, buried in his heart. 

Gently, ever so gently, Dream sat down next to him, supporting Sapnap against his side. 

Sapnap’s dark eyes were filled with tears and pain, his hands uselessly grasped at the blade buried in his torso. 

Dream took a moment to delicately close George’s eyes. He looked more peaceful now. Then he turned to Sapnap. He felt numb. He remembered fighting and killing, he remembered something enjoying it. He knew it was the mask, but he had done it. His mind couldn’t comprehend it right now. 

All he knew was that George was dead, and that Sapnap would soon follow. 

“I’m sorry Sapnap, I should’ve been stronger.” Sapnap didn’t—couldn’t—respond. He only continued to follow Dream with his eyes, occasionally letting out sobs of pain, tears and blood streaking down his face. 

Dream held him close, resting his cheek against Sapnap’s forehead and hoping the contact was comforting. One hand gripped the hilt of the sword. He wouldn’t prolong his friend’s pain just to continue apologizing, that wouldn’t be fair. 

In the smoothest motion he could manage, Dream removed the sword, tossing it to the side as soon as he could. 

He never wanted to touch another weapon as long as he lived. 

Sapnap screamed in pain, but it was weaker this time. His agonizing sobs intensified before growing fainter. Blood poured from below the base of his sternum. Dream didn’t bother to try to halt the flow. Instead, he just held Sapnap close, rocking lightly and mummering reassurances, apologies for what he had done with his own hands. 

He stayed like that long after Sapnap had grown cold in his arms. 

The whispers that overwhelmed his mind were gone, no malevolent force telling him to kill. But so were the pleasant sensations, the delightful apathy the mask had provided was absent as well. 

Dream sat by the side of the path, the bodies of his friends resting on either side of him. He stared at the splinters of the mask in front of him, almost wishing it were still whole. 

If it were… he wondered if he would but it back on, desperate for relief from the emotional agony that felt like it was tearing him in two. 

He thought he might. 

But that wasn’t an option. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not every chapter is going to be just a murder fest, future ones are much more story-focused!
> 
> Like a lot more story focused.  
> I hope you enjoyed the pain, and I look forward to posting the next tomorrow. <3  
> Thanks for reading!  
> \--R&T


	2. Day 2: "I can't lose you too"  (ALT 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I destroyed L’Manburg so I wouldn’t lose you like I did your brother!   
> Well guess what Phil, you already did!  
> Post doomsday
> 
> Philza and Tommy centric, Tubbo is also there and others are mentioned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually the shortest one I've written, but I still like it.
> 
> TW: abandonment, referenced child neglect, anxiety, shouting

Philza stepped towards the figures picking their way across the torn ground. 

The ruins of L’Manburg weren’t even much of a battle ground in the end. There was nothing left to say a war had been fought there at all. The rubble spoke more to a natural disaster. Maybe an act of god.

The Blood God and The Angel of Death. 

Those had been their titles, once, a long time ago. Long before Philza became a father, before Wilbur and Tommy came into his life. 

He had cast that name aside when he chose to raise them, or he had tried to. 

Even if he had been somewhat… absent at time, he had tried to be there for them when they needed support. Technoblade was his closest friend, his mentee, of course he spent time with him as well… 

Philza shook out his wings, large charcoal feathers fluffing and slimming, white patterns on the undersides briefly visible. The final explosions in the distance reminded him of blood dripping through his hands, of holding his eldest son close while he breathed his last.

Wilbur’s death had destroyed Philza, devastated him and rocked him to his core. 

Was it so wrong that he needed some time, that he ran off to be with Techno for a while?

A father’s grief was agony. 

Eventually the grief had turned to anger, the country, the government corrupted Wilbur, turned him into someone Philza couldn’t recognize. Someone Philza was forced to kill. It was the government’s fault this had happened! 

And it was doing the same to Tommy. 

The government had exiled him, turned him into the cringing boy hiding in Technoblades basement. But still he returned! He returned to that president and… it was changing him too. Philza wasn’t willing to let that happen. He wasn’t willing to let the corruption take another child from him.

Because surely it was the government to blame. What else could it be?

Philza strode confidently towards his son as Tommy worked his way onto clear ground, looking lost and confused. His friend stumbled along beside him, arm draped over Tommy’s shoulder for support, bleeding and unable to walk by himself. 

Tubbo was the one to notice the winged man approaching first, he halted in walking and shrunk away, eyes wide with fear. Both boys had only scraps of armor left, they looked exhausted. Philza wore his gleaming netherite armor with pride, totem laying warm against his chest, he knew he was an intimidating sight. Tommy followed his friend’s gaze and froze, blue eyes… fearful and angry. 

Philza sighed, Tommy was always so passionate, but this was necessary. 

He kept walking until he was close enough to speak to him, gently reaching out a hand towards Tommy and intentionally softening his features. 

“Come on Toms, let’s go home now.”

Tommy looked confused and stunned at his words. Then there was an anger, furious rage flared in his expression.

“What the fuck! No, I’m not going anywhere with you. Not after what you’ve done.” Tommy growled the last words, putting on a strong front despite his legs visibly shaking with the strain of keeping both him and Tubbo upright. 

“Tommy, L’Manburg is gone. You have nothing here, let’s go somewhere safe and get you cleaned up.” Philza took another step forward, hating how his own son stepped backwards to stay out of reach.

“No, NO! You don’t get to come here and act all nice now! That isn’t right, it’s not fair!! You laughed as the place I loved was destroyed, as the LAST MEMORIES I HAVE WITH WILBUR blew up in front of me! You don’t get to act all righteous now.” 

Philza was starting to lose his patience. He had done what he had to do. Tommy wasn’t even trying to understand.

“I destroyed it so you wouldn’t become like Wilbur. Why is that so hard for you to get?”

“Oh so—” Tommy swayed on his feet, using all his energy to argue. “So you did this to what? Teach me a lesson? Did you think you were protecting me?! Because you weren’t.” 

“I WAS PROTECTING YOU TOMMY, AND YOU’LL—you’ll understand someday.” 

When Philza shouted Tommy took several rapid steps back, eventually tripping and falling to the ground with Tubbo, both boys fearfully stared up at him from the hard earth. 

“That’s not how protecting works.” Tubbo spoke up softly, words more directed at Tommy than Philza. “Everyone keeps trying to excuse what they’ve done by saying we needed to learn our lesson, but there are so many other ways...” The brunette dropped his head, resignation visible in the slump of his shoulders. 

“As much as we’ve done and as many wars as we’ve been in, we’re still just kids.” Tommy seemed to be emboldened by Tubbo’s words, glaring new daggers up at Philza past the tears in his eyes. “You could have tried talking to me! Or anything!!! Anything other than just destroying everything! But no! You did what you’ve always done Philza, you ran off with Technoblade. When I needed you, when Wilbur needed you… you took off. So you don’t have any right to say you were protecting me.” 

Tommy’s shoulders heaved as he ran out of breath, tears streaming down his face. 

“So I’m not going back with you. No matter what you do, even if you want to kill me right here, I won’t be going anywhere. Because guess what Phil, that wouldn’t be home. Home is the place you just turned to dust, with Tubbo and… with Wilbur. Not with you.”

Tommy climbed to his feet, managing to pull Tubbo up along with him, and started walking away.

“Wait, Tommy, please!” Tommy hesitated, blue eyes met Philza’s matching ones. “I can’t lose you too…”

Tommy shook his head softly, blinking away tears. 

“You already did.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This family.....  
> They have issues. It was an interesting exercise to write from the (3rd person) POV of the character I disagree with, I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> I have prompts for the entire week already written, and they are all longer than this one, so if you liked it, stay tuned!  
> Thank you for reading.  
> \--R&T


	3. Day 3: Imprisonment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream is jailed after the events of the finale.  
> He keeps getting asked the same question by a series of visitors: Why?
> 
> Dream, Tommy, Tubbo, Sapnap, George, Ghostbur, Technoblade, Puffy, AweSamdude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think c!Dream's actions have no justification or excuse. That's what made writing this one so interesting.
> 
> TW: Abuse, referenced abuse, manipulation, vague mentioned (hitting a wall), lying to oneself, deception

It was only a day after Dream was imprisoned that he got his first visitor. Tommy showed up, as promised, all proud and gloating because of his perceived victory. As much as he would have liked to attack Tommy just for kicks, for daring to put on airs like he hadn’t been on his knees begging for his friend’s life just a day prior, AweSamdude was too close, just across the lava-filled moat that surrounded the cell, for him to do more than give him a nasty bruise. Dream scowled under the mask, he had all night to plan how he would be getting out of this, and unfortunately it started with playing nice. 

“Hi Tommy.” Dream made his voice as soft and mellow as possible, putting on his best facsimile of innocence. He passively puttered around the obsidian cell, not have to feign weakness since the elder guardians around the prison were doing their jobs. It was miserable being in close proximity to them for so long without the use of any strengthening potions, Dream dreaded the inevitable atrophy he would experience before long. 

He noticed appreciatively that despite his arrogant appearance, Tommy was tightly controlling his own breathing, one hand restlessly fidgeting by his side. Despite Dream being entirely helpless, totally at his mercy in this cell, Tommy was still anxious just to be around him. That was good. 

It meant not all of Dream’s hard work went to waste. He could pick up where he left off once he got out of here.

“This is my cell, you see I’ve got a sink over here…” Dream smirked as Tommy paused, the faintest trace of pity visible on the younger blonde’s face. A good start. “I’ve been going crazy in here, just all alone… Anyway, how are you?” 

Dream was grateful they let him keep his mask, otherwise hiding his emotions would be much harder, he couldn’t help but smile, it was just fun to see Tommy still playing into his hands. The boy jolted when Dream asked, some sort of disbelief flashing across his face. 

“You fucked up, you know that? Everyone hates you now, everyone knows you’re a dick.” If Tommy was trying to get a rise out of him, he wasn’t going to accomplish it like that. Dream sighed heavily, dropping down to sit on his bedside and letting his shoulders slump.

“Well, I’m in prison now, so there’s no reason for them to hate me anyway.” 

Tommy stared in utter disbelief. Dream’s smiling mask met his gaze innocently.

Dream remained passive as Tommy tried to start up conversations, even threatening to take his clock, as if that would show him the error of his ways. Dream pretended to care, but barely managed to stifle a laugh when Tommy didn’t even go through with it. The kid couldn’t even take a clock from him, not even after everything he did. 

Finally Tommy seemed to build up his courage, to finally get out whatever he wanted to say to Dream. 

“I realized, you can’t kill me, otherwise you won’t have the attachments to use anymore, right? So really, I’ve had the power all along, I just didn’t know it.” Tommy glared daggers, daring him to argue. Dream finally felt a bit of heat rise in his chest. 

Dream had cut all attachments for just this reason, so that no one would have power over him. Tommy was foolish for thinking otherwise. The masked man finally let out a non-committal hum, forcing himself to keep up the act. Tommy looked unsatisfied, but Dream couldn’t care less. 

He was a little surprised when Tommy stomped over to the box of blank journals Sam had left him, some form of entertainment to pass the time he supposed. Tommy hastily pulled out five books, scribbling nonsense titles while prattling on about forgiveness and novels… Dream had stopped listening a while ago. 

Tommy crossed the room to drop the leather-bound volumes in Dream’s lap. 

“Tell Sam when you’re done with all five and I’ll come to see you again to read them. Alright?” It physically caused Dream pain to agree to this stupid exercise, but he had to follow his plan.

“Good, I’m glad you visited.” Tommy paused, as if unsure of himself.

“How are you feeling?” 

“Sad. I lost all my friends and my belongings.” Dream lied in what he figured was a fair approximation of sadness and regret. Tommy cocked his head curiously.

“Really, who do you miss the most?”

Dream opened his mouth and drew breath to answer, then faltered.

Who would Tommy expect him to say? Maybe George or Sapnap—

Oh. Dream scowled as a burst of pain crossed his chest unbidden. A memory of the three of them, all together, blending with Sapnap’s silent assistance in locking him up the day prior. Leaving him in this cell to rot. He hated that he felt ANYTHING! He had cut all people out of his life for a reason, so they couldn’t be used to control him, so he should be able to just lie, to say whatever Tommy would believe. He shouldn’t feel anything!

Dream still couldn’t find convincing words. 

“I think you should leave.” Gone was the fake softness and regret. Dream made his voice firm, noting how Tommy flinched away at the sudden change. “Guards? Sam? Get him out of here.” 

Tommy was escorted out moments later and Dream sat back down on his bed, leaning against the rough obsidian wall. He was just going to shove the books to the floor, but out of pure boredom he leafed through them. Most of them were utter nonsense, titles about getting girls or jokes that Tommy wanted him to participate in. One did catch his eye though…

“Why? – Dream” He chuckled lightly, pulling off the mask to peer at the page. Tommy still wanted answers? Some explanation for his behavior? Why couldn’t he understand that Dream had already told him everything there was to know? 

Dream pulled out a graphite pencil he had been given, casually writing a single sentence on the first page before casting the book aside.

Why?

“Because I was strong enough to do so.”

* * *

The second visitor came a couple days later, the time known by the constantly ticking clock on the wall. 

By this point Dream had spent a lot of time pacing the cell he designed, carefully seeing if it held any weaknesses he could exploit. It didn’t. Still, he knew the weakest part of any prison was the human element, so he was waiting for anyone to come visit him that he could exploit. 

“Let me know when you’re done, shout if you need anything.” Dream stared as the man stepped out onto the moving bridge that would bring him to the front of the cell. Moments later he was there, waiting patiently for it to unlock automatically.

Sapnap stepped into the cell. 

The two men stared at each other, neither speaking, both remembering times long past. Dream was slightly startled when Sapnap finally spoke, breaking the silence with an air of finality. 

“Would you have done it?” Sapnap reached up a hand to tuck some loose hair behind his white headband, but his gaze never left Dream’s face. Dream’s mind raced as he tried to formulate a response…

He needed pity and sympathy so…

“Of course not, you think that I would—”

Sapnap lunged, grabbing his collar and shoving him against the wall with enough force to drive the air from Dream’s lungs. 

“Don’t fucking lie to me Dream! I know when you’re lying.” The dark-haired man snarled in his face and Dream was too weak from the elder guardian’s effects to fight back. He was prepared to play up that fact, but stiffened when Sapnap’s other hand gripped at the side of his mask.

“Hey! Stop!” Dream pushed back against the younger man, but Sapnap’s grip was unrelenting. Dream gritted his teeth as the mask was pulled away and his face was exposed. Anger flared in his gut at the indignity. He wanted power, not to be powerless in this cell. 

“Would you have killed Tubbo if we didn’t arrive in time? Would you have hunted down everything everyone ever cared about?” Dream was surprised to hear the tremble in Sapnap’s voice. It was uncharacteristic. Maybe he could use that…

“You really believe I would do that? Sapnap… you know me.” Dream’s attempt was weak, he couldn’t help but glare slightly as his old friend twisted the mask in his fingers carelessly. 

“I don’t know you anymore!! I don’t want to believe it, I don’t… but…” Sapnap’s dark eyes filled with tears. “You’re not the same person I grew up with.”

Dream couldn’t control it any longer. He sneered at Sapnap, letting his green eyes harden.

“Fuck you Sapnap! I’m still me, just because I wanted some control over things you think I’m some sort of monster?! Screw that, you were fine in the first war!” Dream bit off his words, accusingly waving his hands as he spoke. Sapnap matched his intensity, as he always had.

“There’s a difference!!! You stopped caring about what matters a long time ago, now it’s all about power! You don’t even care about me, do you?!” Sapnap shouted while tears streaked down his face, Dream didn’t back down for a second.

“I care about control! There’s a difference! I would do whatever it takes for that control, understand?”

Sapnap took a single step backwards, expression hardening. 

“I understand perfectly well Dream.” The younger man turned, exiting the cell and giving a shout for Sam to extend the bridge. “Don’t expect to see me here again.” 

Dream scowled, he couldn’t care less, one less person to put on an act of regret for. But Sapnap did still have—

“My mask! Give it back.” Sapnap turned his head, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

“No, this is Dream’s mask.” 

Dream shouted profanities as the man who had once been one of his closest friends walked away. 

It was pure spite and annoyance that led him to pick up that book again, physically exhausted from all the shouting. The question taunted him, not because he didn’t know the answer, but because it had the gall to ask it. 

Another phrase was hastily scribbled on the page, almost spiteful in the hard strokes.

Why?

“So I could have control.”

* * *

The next visitor Dream got was actually a pair of people. 

He was more than a little surprised to see two figures crossing the bridge to his cell, if only because he knew the prison was only designed to insure the cooperation of one guest at a time. A glance at his clock and the bruises on his hands from scraping at pure obsidian told him it had been a week since anyone had visited him, other than Sam, the warden delivering his meals reliably.

Dream didn’t bother to rise from where he sat on the edge of the cell, leaning against the wall. His eyes did widen when he saw exactly who it was headed his way.

Tubbo stepped up to the door cautiously, giving no indication he wanted to enter the cell itself. Instead he just stared at Dream through the bars, scrutiny present on his expression. The other visitor stood protectively to Tubbo’s side, white fluffy wool cascading around her shoulders as Puffy glared daggers at him. 

“Surprised Sam let you both in here.” Dream snorted, feeling them out, Tubbo had always been empathetic… it would be harder without his mask, but he figured he could give a decently convincing performance. 

“Well, I guess he didn’t think there was much risk of me attempting to break out the man who was going to kill me.” Tubbo answered dryly, surprisingly steady. 

“Why visit? And why are you here?” Dream smirked as Puffy got even more angry.

“I wasn’t going to let Tubbo freaking face you alone, even with you all harmless and trapped.” 

“And I just wanted to face you.” Dream’s attention fixed on the smaller boy, eyeing him, questioning his resolve. Tubbo sat down on the floor across from him, giving Captain Puffy a reassuring look as he did. Still, she hovered nervously.

“You know Dream, even after Technoblade killed me, it wasn’t very hard for me to forgive him.” Dream scoffed, though he was more than a little curious as to where this was going. “I just found it easy to understand why he did it, so I could probably find a way to forgive you too, I wasn’t even that upset to die really.” 

Tubbo’s dark blue eyes looked at him passively, far too collected. Dream scowled despite himself. He wanted him to be afraid, or angry, or anything! He almost lunged at the bars just to see the boy jump, to prove he had control over the situation, but he held himself back. A deep breath…

“I’m really glad about that Tubbo, I’ve been all alone in this cell and—“’

“I’m not finished.” Tubbo cut him off, face hardening. “I talked with Tommy, he told me about what you did to him in exile, how you tortured him. And that—that I will NEVER forgive!” 

“Oh, Tubbo…” Dream gave a half-hearted attempt.

“No! There is no explanation you could give that would ever sway me in the slightest. You will rot here, and I will be happy about it.” With that Tubbo stood, apparently having said his piece. Dream wasn’t content though, he hated everything about this conversation, and he would turn it in his favor.

“You want an explanation Tubbo? You want to know why I did it?” Dream sneered and stood, towering over the smaller boy.

“He’s done, shut your mouth Dream.” Puffy’s protest did nothing to dissuade him. 

“I did it because I liked it! Seeing Tommy cower in fear because he couldn’t do anything, him thanking me for just showing up, because I was his only friend! It was great Tubbo! And when I get out of here, because I will, I will do it again!!” That got a reaction. Dream laughed as Tubbo went feral, only being held back from the cell door by Puffy’s arms around his pulling him away. 

Tubbo screamed angry insults the entire way back across the bridge, never letting up until the doors closed and he was out of earshot. Dream ignored him, walking to his bed and picking up a book in full sight, writing the sentence with mocking ease.

Why?

“I enjoyed it.”

* * *

The next visitor came unannounced, so surprising that Dream actually jerked awake from his bed, startled into alertness. 

“Hello!” The voice was light an airy, echoing around the obsidian cell. The reason for Dream not noticing someone approaching was immediately clear, there was no need for lowering of bridges or opening of doors for the ghost that now hovered in the center of his cell. 

Ghostbur waved cheerfully, faintly glowing in the dim light. Dream groaned and laid back down. He was not eager to have a conversation with a useless amnesiac. 

“Why are you here?” Dream muttered at him, hoping if he humored the ghost he would go away sooner. Ghostbur was more than happy to respond.

“Oh, I was told you did some really bad things… but I also did bad things, back when I was alive, I think… So I thought we could talk!” Wilbur’s ghost was annoyingly innocent. Dream was not in the mood. After a month of being in this cell his patience was wearing thin, he was running out of ideas, and the pure aloneness was grating on him. 

He hated himself for missing contact with others. That was a form of attachment, and he was supposed to be rid of all of those. 

“I don’t need to explain myself to you, or anyone for that matter.” Dream sighed and sat up, fixing the ghost with a glare. “This is my server, my world. Anything I do can be justified with that simple fact. It belongs to me.” 

“Hmmmm” the ghost smeared some blue dye on the wall, barely visible against dark obsidian. “That doesn’t sound right…”

Dream was done. With a flourish he crossed the room to his sink and flicked a handful of water at the ghost, rolling his eyes as he squeaked a protest. 

“Get lost Ghostbur.” 

The phantom did as he was asked, vanishing through the wall like he had never been there to begin with. Dream sighed and laid back on his bed, tossing and turning. 

Eventually he grabbed the only book he had bothered to write in, adding another line for no real reason. It just felt right.

Why?

“Because it’s my server!”

* * *

The next visitor was almost a full month later, and one that Dream had been waiting for since the day he got tossed in this stupid cell. 

Dream was leering before Technoblade even was fully across the bridge, leaning against the bars and feeling a hint of relief.

“Finally, what took you so long?” Dream forced a smile, trying to maintain some camaraderie with someone. Techno stared back blankly. “In case you somehow didn’t know, I would like to call in that favor now.” 

Dream’s face slowly fell as the piglin hybrid didn’t give a response, just giving him a slow look. 

“No, that’s not why I’m here.” 

“What?” Dream’s voice dropped low, a tone that might have sounded dangerous if he wasn’t locked up tight and visibly trembling. 

“I’m not breaking you out. I don’t think it’s possible anyway, but I’m not going to do it. I came so you could ask for something else, maybe a picture or something? I don’t know, felt bad to go back on my word without at least telling you about it.” 

Dreams mind felt like it was filled with static. This was his last play, his last plan, his last modicum of control over the situation. And now—

“You owe me!!” Dream slammed his hands against the bars, wishing Techno had come into the cell with him. 

“Yeah, but I’ve heard what you did, you’re a fool if you think I’m going to let you out after that performance.” 

“You’re no different!! You actually did what I threatened too, at the festival! You’ve destroyed everything people care about, so don’t act all high and fucking mighty now!” Dream was getting lightheaded, his breathing speeding up as he shouted. “The ONLY difference between us is that you had Philza to run off with when public opinion turned against you! I had—”

Dream realized he had dropped any remainder of a mask too late to stop himself.

“I had no one!” 

Dream’s shoulders heaved with exertion, he wanted to be out of this cell, he wanted to be anywhere but here, with tears pricking in his eyes and Technoblade of all people looking at him judgmentally.

“I’m leaving now, unless you have something reasonable you want to ask for?” Dream sunk sullenly to the floor, silence as his only response. 

“Alright then, enjoy your house Dream.”

Dream didn’t watch him go, instead just burying his face in his hands, knees tucked to his chest. 

Eventually he grabbed the book, leather now familiar in his hands. He read each sentence, slowly allowing himself to consider, too emotionally exhausted to justify himself, letting the words he had written do it for him. It was an hour later that he finally added another phrase to the makeshift journal. The words tasted bitter on his tongue, he squinted at his own lies, trying to make them fit a form he could believe.

Why?

“I didn’t have anyone to run to.” 

* * *

Six months after his imprisonment Dream got another visitor. 

He had tried hunger striking a few times at this point, but Sam increased the food quality until it was near irresistible, also giving him new books and other things to occupy his abundant time. Dream hated his pity. 

When the sound of the bridge extending grated into the room, Dream ignored it, assuming it was just another meal. No one had visited him in a long time. 

“Hello Dream.” He froze.

The tall blond was completely taken aback by the voice he heard behind him, completely caught off guard. He managed to collect himself before he turned, listening as the door to the cell opened and the visitor entered. 

“Hello George.” 

The slight brunette stood before him, eyes serious and searching. Dream wondered what he was hoping to find.

“Why?” Dream asked the question, spitting it out like the word burnt his tongue.

George cocked his head, confusion written across his face.

“Why now? After all this time, why come visit me now?” George opened his mouth, then hesitated, taking a deep breath before responding. 

“I talked to Sapnap after he visited. He was convinced the person we once called our friend, our brother, was gone. After hearing what you’d done I didn’t disagree.”

“So you just stayed away? Is that it?” Dream’s voice dripped venom, but George didn’t rise to the bait.

“I wasn’t ready.” The tone was even, refusing to take on the guilt Dream was trying to saddle him with. 

“But you’re here now?” Dream scowled, easily ignoring the long-dead impulse to wrap his friend in a hug and never let go. 

“Yes.” George spoke the word simply, not faltering. He had rehearsed this. “I needed to see for myself, so I came. I came to ask you why you did it, and find out if my friend is still in there somewhere.” 

Dream felt himself growing more angry by the minute, he slammed a hand against the wall, ignoring the bruising pain. 

“Why? Everyone asks me the same fucking thing George!” The prisoner grabbed a book from next to his bed, throwing it at the older man with all the force he could muster. “Here!! Have a dissertation on why I did it! But you won’t like the answer!” 

George caught the projectile with trivial ease. Dream hadn’t exactly kept up an exercise routine. The man crossed the room to sit on the edge of the bed without asking permission, opening the document and carefully tracing the words. Dream watched the brunettes expression turn dark, and he felt somewhat smug. But when the brown eyes turned back towards him they weren’t angry. 

George looked almost sorrowful. If Dream hadn’t given up hope of escape a while ago he might have tried to use the emotion, as it was, he only resented what he saw as pity. 

“Do you think you were right, to do what you did, what you were going to do?” Dream might have thought up a thousand clever lies, but he couldn’t say them, they choked in his throat.

The truth forced its way out like an arrow from a bow.

“Yes! I did what I had to do George; I had a plan to follow!” 

George rose from the bed, handing him the book with surprising gentleness.

“Sapnap was right. You aren’t the same.” 

Dream was fuming, he could practically feel a fire growing in his chest.

“I am the same!! I have always had a plan, had drive, known what to do in order to get what I want!”

George stepped around him, Dream spun to keep facing him, not willing to let him just walk away that easily.

“The Dream I knew wouldn’t do these things. He cared about things and people. He would do anything to defend his friends and family.” 

Dream grabbed his arm, forcing the smaller man to meet his eyes.

“I had to give that all up, don’t you understand? To get MY control back!”

George yanked away, finally rising out of that passive pity that Dream hated.

“I understand just fine! You justified a thousand little wrongs that built on each other, that grew and grew until you really believed you were right!! But they weren’t! In the end, what was it all for? Huh Dream? You could have all the control you wanted, and what would you accomplish?” Now Dream was taking a step back, the fury in George’s face making him feel small in the face of it. Still, he rose to the argument, ready to fight his side to the end.

“Once I had control I could—I could—”

“What? What would you have, really?”

“Once I got control, then things could go back to how they were!”

The room froze, both men equally shocked at the words bursting forth from Dream’s mouth. He felt tears sting as they tried to form in his eyes, but he couldn’t stop now, even though each word felt physically painful to admit. His carefully constructed web of lies, of indifference and justifications, was finally crumpling. 

“It would be like it was at the beginning. When it was just you and me and Sapnap. Before there were power struggles and wars… before you two left me.” 

It hurt. It hurt like a dagger to the chest. 

“That never would have worked, you must know that…” George trailed off, eyes wide. “You started doing things we couldn’t agree with, we told you, we gave you a chance.”

Dream felt a lump growing in his throat, painful and choking. He couldn’t force out a response.

“But you just went further and further. How could you even believe that any of this would fix things?” 

Dream could see it, he could see for the first time how his means would never give him the result he wanted. He could see through his own lies spun so tightly around himself.

He was caught in his own web, and it was too comfortable to fight. 

“I—I just… I thought…” 

“You thought wrong.” George laid it out plainly, somehow managing to stifle his own crying enough to speak. “You’ve done inexcusable things, things you can never fix or make up for. Things you don’t even believe were wrong. That’s the most messed up part! You’ve deluded yourself into justifying your actions, when in reality, there is nothing that could make what you did okay.”

Part of Dream’s mind fought back in self-preservation. The web of lies was a needed protection from the pain that would come from facing the truth, from acknowledging the things he had done as they were, laid bare in front of him. 

Another part of his mind, older and weak from disuse, clung to George’s every word. That part hurt, it felt like physical pain in his chest. But it felt more real, somehow familiar in a way Dream hadn’t felt in a long time. 

Dream sobbed for the first time since he had been thrown in prison. 

He crumpled to the floor and wept, mind vying to return to familiar patterns of thinking, but being unable to, a precious thread cut by the man in front of him. 

He barely registered movement until something was placed in front of him, a book and charcoal pencil laid out before him with gentle precision. 

George sat across from him, not offering any comfort, face still skeptical, but he held out a hand.

“Dream. I think you should write this book.” 

It took some time, but eventually Dream quelled his crying enough to lift the bound parchment up to his lap, turning to a fresh page and turning pencil to paper under George’s expectant gaze.

Why?

“I wanted things back the way they were.”

The truth spilled across the pages over days and weeks of careful guidance and visits. Sapnap started coming with George on these visits, skeptical at first, then more relaxed as time went on and Dream chose to face what he’d done.

Each day Dream had to make the conscious decision to not believe his own lies, to face the pain that came with acknowledging what he had done without excuse. But sitting with George and Sapnap, even in that obsidian cell, never hoping to escape, Dream thought it was worth it. 

Things would never be back the way they were. Dream would stay in that cell willingly. But he was more like himself with every passing day. 

And it all started with a simple question.

Why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> c!Dream's motivations are so vague in cannon that I can't help but theorize.   
> I've always found the thought processes of people convincing themselves the terrible things they do are right interesting, because I think everyone does it to some extent or another. It's a self-preservation tactic, but that doesn't excuse the actions in the slightest. 
> 
> Anyway! I love hearing people's reactions to my writing, so if you want to leave a comment I would so appreciate it.  
> Thank you for reading!  
> \--R&T


	4. Day 4: Impaling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doomsday is upon them.  
> Karl wasn't supposed to be there, he wasn't supposed to be involved.  
> He wasn't supposed to get hurt.
> 
> Sapnap, Karl, Quackity, Jack Manifold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided Quackity has wings for this one-shot and no one can stop me!   
> Also! Three lives cannon pog
> 
> TW: anxiety, referenced fighting wolves, very graphic injuries

The ruins of a fully destroyed, fully dead L’Manburg quieted as the rain of TNT finally came to an end.

The pack of wolves that Sapnap had been fighting, almost single handedly, started to thin and retreat. He breathed heavily, nursing his bitten arm to his chest. His dark eyes scanned the tortured landscape. Other people were finding their way out from cover, daring to venture forth now that it seemed the threat had passed. 

Sapnap grimaced. They had failed. Dream and Technoblade had gotten exactly what they wanted. 

The dark-haired man wasn’t that invested in the country, but he had made an agreement with Tommy, he respected him and fought beside him. For his sake, if nothing else, it was unpleasant to see the nation fall. 

Sapnap picked his way through the rubble to the other survivors as they collected their wounded. He was slightly startled when someone ran up towards him, Jack Manifold grabbed his upper arm steadily, his eyes, visible through cracked glasses, looked at Sapnap almost pityingly. 

“Sapnap! You need to come over here, it’s Karl.” 

What?

“Karl? What do you mean, Karl isn’t here.”

Jack’s face tightened. “He is here, and he’s… hurt.”

Sapnap didn’t hesitate, he pushed past the man roughly, tearing towards where he had indicated Karl was. His mind raced furiously as he sprinted through the rubble. Karl wasn’t supposed to be involved in this, he was supposed to stay away, stay safe. Why would he be here? Why aren’t the others treating his injuries if he’s hurt?

His last question was answered the moment he rounded the corner. Karl sat against a wall, weakly raising his head to look at Sapnap with tear-filled brown eyes. His chest—his chest was pierced through… a jutting shard of wood pointed out from his torso, below his ribs, coated in blood. His bright sweatshirt torn around the offending spike.

Sapnap rushed to his side, fighting back tears as he grabbed his hand. 

“Karl… what happened?” Gently Sapnap reached out for him, doing his best to wipe away his friend’s tears. 

“I…” Karl sounded so weak, but he was in shock, his limbs trembled obviously. “I was staying away, I swear… but when the explosions started…. I got worried about you and Quackity. I came to get you guys out of here.” A sardonic chuckle escaped Karl’s mouth, followed by a pained sob. “Some good that did, huh?” 

Sapnap was at a loss. He… he never wanted to see Karl like this…

“I got tossed back from a blast onto this…” Karl sniffled, eyes growing slightly panicked as he glanced at the spike skewering him in place. 

Sapnap turned his head, gently forcing Karl to look away.

“Look at me, okay? Just look at me. You’re going to be okay Karl, I’m right here.” Sapnap felt his eyes filling with tears, but he had to stay strong for Karl. He would just get more scared if Sapnap started breaking down. Karl had all his respawns, he would be okay. Sapnap repeated the words in his mind. Karl would respawn. 

Rapid footsteps turned Sapnap’s attention away, he saw two figures round the corner. Quackity came into view with Jack Manifold helping him walk, burnt and limping heavily. He pulled himself away from Jack when he saw Karl, rushing painfully forward and collapsing on the other side of him, ragged wings fluttering to steady him as he moved. 

Quackity gave Sapnap a desperate look, dark eyes meeting Sapnap’s with a pleading intensity. Sapnap could only shake his head. There was no fixing this. Sapnap was impressed as he watched the other member of their triad born of deep friendships drag himself back from the brink of panic, taking intentional deep breaths until he was calm enough to speak.

“Hey Karl, I’m here too now.” 

Karl weakly turned his head, reaching out his other hand towards Quackity once he had spotted him. Quackity quickly took it in both his own. Sapnap gritted his teeth together. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not to Karl. 

“I… I’m scared…” Karl almost whimpered the words, tears dripping down to his chin as he sniffed. He had never died before. A fact that both Sapnap and Quackity were happy for. Neither of them wanted him to experience that. Yet here he was, dying in their war. 

“It’ll be okay Karl, this… this is the worst part man, soon you’ll fall asleep, yeah? Then you’ll wake up at home and we’ll be right there beside you.” Quackity put on a brave front, but Karl looked unconvinced, the small man kept gasping in pain with every slight movement. Sapnap tried to think of a distraction. 

“We are going to do that play next week, right? The one about pirates? We’ll help you set that up if you want!” Quackity nodded eagerly, murmuring agreement. Karl slightly smiled, before shuddering. 

“What’s it like… dying?” He forced the words out between pursed lips, Sapnap stared into his eyes with as much reassurance as he could muster up. 

“It…” Endless void, feeling alone and trapped, never going to get out, no escape. The respawn took only seconds, but it felt like an eternity while it was happening. “You just think about us, okay? Remember that we are right beside you, we won’t leave you Karl.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” Sapnap and Quackity answered in sync. 

Ever so softly the Quackity guided Karl’s hand to his wing. Sapnap appreciated how it seemed to sooth Karl to play with Quackity’s brown and white feathers, he forced out a slight smile at Quackity, a thanks for providing a comfort he couldn’t. 

“It—it hurts!” Karl suddenly squirmed, hands clenching in pain. Sapnap ran a hand gently through his brown hair, murmuring encouragements.

“Just try to relax, we’re right here. You can rest, you can fall asleep.” Karl sobbed in pain, but his movements grew weaker and weaker as time went on. As more blood streamed down his chest and soaked into the ground below. Eventually he drew very still, the only sign of life a slight rising and falling of his chest around the piece of wood he was impaled upon. 

Sapnap and Quackity held him, both whispering comforts as he took final breaths. After a moment Karl started to dissolve away, flesh and form scattering into motes of light that rose to the sky and vanished. 

The two men were left sitting on either side of a bloody broken beam. 

As soon as Karl was gone Quackity broke down, huge heaving wails racking his body as he crumpled in on himself, wings curling as he wrapped his arms around his torso and doubled over. Sapnap and Quackity weren’t the closest of friends, they both were much closer to Karl than each other, but they cared. Sapnap moved to Quackity’s side, gently laying a hand on his shoulder, letting his own sobs pour out of his chest. 

The two men cried side-by-side. They needed a moment to process. 

Sapnap reached a hand out and ran his fingers through Quackity’s feathers, the motion and feeling soothing both of them. Quackity slowly started to relax, and Sapnap’s own sobs slowed. 

“We gotta go meet him.” Quackity sniffed out the words, meeting Sapnap’s eyes like a mirror of their shared pain. 

Sapnap nodded and pushed himself to his feet, pulling Quackity up with him. The smaller man stumbled and almost fell down, only saved by Sapnap grabbing his arm and wrapping it over his shoulder. 

“We’ll go meet Karl, then we’ll fix up your leg.” 

“I don’t know what you mean by that Sapnap.” Quackity joked sarcastically as they hobbled towards their home. 

They were all going to be okay. Sapnap didn’t like what had happened, but they would be together, all three of them. 

They would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof ouch am I right?  
> It's intended as platonic, despite the three of them having a cannon polyamorous relationship on the smp storyline, I chose to write them as close friends that joke about being engaged. As one does. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments are my fuel, and I've got a doozy written for tomorrow....  
> \--R&T


	5. Day 5: "Take me instead"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written before the Finale, Tommy and Tubbo make the decision to walk away from it all.  
> Dream might object. Just maybe.
> 
> Tommy, Tubbo, Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this before the Finale but after Dream left the note and compass. 
> 
> TW: very explicit violence, anxiety, panic, poisoning, paralyzed (due to poison), self-sacrificial behavior, manipulation, abuse (exile referenced)

Tommy stared at the red rubble that had replaced his home with resignation.

This happened far too often. 

It still stung. The last place he really called home was gone. It had been only a week since L’Manburg was destroyed for good, and now his house…

Tommy was tired of losing things he cared about. 

The blond boy sighed exhaustedly as he bent to pick up a piece of paper, somehow perfectly white and clean despite the still burning fires littered around the area.

**“Come meet me Wednesday. You and Tubbo ALONE. If anyone else shows up the disks are gone forever.”**

Great. Just great. The handwriting was unmistakably Dream’s careful script, as if the reference to the disks wasn’t obvious enough. Tommy sat down on a large edge of stone, balancing his elbows on his knees and holding his head in his hands. 

He wanted his disks. Obviously he did. The disks meant something, they were something to fight for. The memories meant they were worth fighting for. But…

For the first time in his life Tommy wasn’t eager for a fight. 

“Tommy? What’s going on?” Tommy shrugged and held up the paper as Tubbo trotted up behind him. The smaller boy laid a hand on his shoulder comfortingly when he saw the state of his house. He gasped lightly as he read the note. 

“Okay, well. I’ve got some gear, we can get all set up and make some plans—”

“Tubbo.” Tommy raised his head and stared up at the sky.

“Yeah?” 

“Do we really want to do this?” Tommy stood when Tubbo didn’t answer immediately, quickly grabbing his friend’s hand and pulling him towards their bench. After a few moments of sitting Tubbo took a deep breath.

“I want to do it if you do Tommy. I’ll fight beside you no matter what.” The two boys stared at each other evenly, speaking volumes in the silence. Tommy didn’t doubt for a second that Tubbo meant it. His friend knew how much the disks meant to him. Tubbo would happily fight for him, even now, when they were both on their last lives, Tubbo would risk permanent death to help Tommy without question. 

“I’m… We’ve lost so much Tubbo.” Tommy turned his head away, brushing blond wispy hairs from in front of his eyes. “It might be better to just… well…”

Tommy felt Tubbo gently take his hand, a reassuring squeeze grounding him. 

“Do you remember when I suggested that we just, run away from it all?”

“Yeah, I remember, before the festival…” Tommy knew from the tone of voice that Tubbo’s mind had gone to a dark place. It was his turn to squeeze the hand in his and help bring his best friend back to the present. 

“I was thinking, we’re a couple of big men now. We could just… ya know. Go get away from all these assholes. Build somewhere… new. Not a city or country or anything, just a place.” Tommy groaned internally. This sounded so stupid—

“That sounds really nice.” The blond boy spun, facing his friend with wide eyes. Tubbo looked back at him with darker blue ones, face uplifted in a hopeful smile. “But are you sure you would be okay leaving the disks with Dream… I know how much he hurt you, in exile.”

Tubbo was right. The desire for his disks was now more than half an issue of control, of proving that Dream didn’t have power over him. 

But there was more than one way to take that power away from him.

“I’m sure. We should tell him, make sure he knows we aren’t going to fight him any longer. Then we leave. Right after.” Tommy felt his resolve growing and brought himself to return Tubbo’s smile. Maybe they could be away from all this. 

Everything here was gone, they only had each other.

They could find a place to make home.

* * *

“Catch!!” Tommy jumped and dodged as Tubbo tossed a full bag at him, he glared when he heard the clatter it made when it hit the floor.

“What the hell Tubbo?! Why would you throw a bag of… are these rocks?!” Tubbo grinned at him mischievously as Tommy opened the mouth of the bag, pulling out a handful of what looked like pebbles. 

“Those are seeds! Like for flowers!” Tommy dropped the seeds back in the bag.

“Well how many bags do you have, I thought we were packing light?” 

“We need flowers if we are going to have bees for honey!” Tommy snorted and kept up the playful bickering as they packed the last of their things into the saddlebags of the horses. They were ready. 

“Tommy?” The tall blond turned slowly at the other boy’s serious tone, meeting his eyes concernedly. “Are you sure about this?” 

They both knew without explanation what Tubbo was referring to. 

Tommy found it fairly easy to smile lightly back at his friend.

“I’m sure Tubbo, more sure than I’ve been about anything. Let’s go.” 

With that, they were off. They only had a quick stop to make, not wanting to risk the potential consequences of missing Dream’s meeting. They would tell him they weren’t fighting, that he could keep the disks, then they would leave. 

The thought still made a pang of hurt go through his chest, but it had lessened each day he and Tubbo had packed and planned. As they rode they chattered lightly, mostly Tubbo declaring that Tommy was not allowed to build any ‘Intimidation Towers’ around their new house, a sentiment that Tommy strongly disagreed with. 

The air seemed to grow more tense as they neared the meeting place, a seemingly random grassy field. Tommy slid off his horse first, stretching. It would be a long ride, might as well relax while he had the chance. Tubbo followed behind, glancing around curiously. 

Dream didn’t appear to be anywhere.

But as usual, Dream was always around. Tubbo yelped in surprise when the masked figure suddenly seemed to appear in the center of the clearing, popping into existence with the crack of an enderpearl. Also, as usual, Dream was absolutely armed to the teeth. His shining armor was worn, a belt hanging around his waist held pouches and a loop where his axe sat securely. 

“Hello.” The man tilted his head curiously, making the smiley face on his mask all the more earie. Fortunately, Tommy and Tubbo had gotten used to it a long time ago. “Neither of you look ready to fight.” 

“We aren’t here to fight you Dream.” Tommy took the lead, staring the mask in its beady eyes, emboldened by having Tubbo at his side. 

“Really? You’ll just let me burn your disks then?” 

Tommy gulped at the tone. Still, he took a deep breath and relayed the words they had planned. 

“You can do what you want. Tubbo and I are leaving. Keep the disks or… burn them. It’s up to you now.” There. He had said it. Tommy felt a strange lightening sensation in his chest, he felt more free just declaring it. He grinned, enjoying the rush of happiness. 

With a flourish Tommy turned back towards the horses.

“Let’s go Tubbo!” They only got a step before Dream called after them.

“Wait. You wouldn’t really give up on the disks that easily, no way. What’s your game here Tommy?” The masked man’s voice held a dangerous tone. Tommy turned back and chuckled lightly.

“No game big man, everything else I care about has been destroyed, might as well move on.” 

For a moment Dream looked surprised, body language speaking volumes despite his hidden face. Tommy bit back a sneer. Good. 

He once again stepped towards the horses, happy when Tubbo grabbed his hand for support. They would be free now.

“Everything you care about Tommy? Are you sure?” Tommy paused automatically, a shiver running down his spine. Dream sounded—

_**CRACK** _

Something exploded at Tommy’s feet, misty gas rose up around him, filling his lungs before he could react.

“What the fuck?! What are you… doing…” Tommy felt his limbs start to go numb, in a panic he tried to run to the horses, but it was too late. The blond boy stumbled, falling heavily to the ground. He couldn’t move. He felt sick, his limbs felt like lead… he was poisoned and weakened. 

Out of the corner of his eyes Tommy saw Dream approaching, steadily walking forward like the unstoppable avatar of death itself.

He was dragged half upright by rough hands, forced into a sitting position and leaned against a rock. Dream crouched in front of him, blurring in Tommy’s weakened vision. 

“You say you’ve lost all you care about, but I just don’t think that’s true.” Tommy managed to open his mouth, forcing words out weakly.

“What do you mean, Dream?” Dream vanished from Tommy’s tunneled vison, the blond was too weak to even turn his head and follow him with his eyes. He helplessly waited until the man reappeared, holding… no…

“Dream… please…” Tommy gasped the words out, begging his limbs to respond as he tried to struggle forward. He barely managed to do more than twitch. 

Dream held Tubbo across his shoulders, dropping the smaller brunette to the ground with a thud. Tommy winced internally at the impact. The masked man dropped into a crouch again, propping Tubbo upright in front of him and roughly turning his face towards Tommy’s. Tommy stared into his friend’s terrified blue eyes. Tubbo has been hit more directly with the potion, he couldn’t even seem to speak. 

“You shouldn’t make statements like that unless they’re true Tommy.” Dream’s voice was smugly scolding. “After all, I want nothing more than to take away everything you care about.” 

“Dream, don’t. Please… I’ll do anything you want, just leave Tubbo alone. I’ll go with you into exile, I’ll fight anyone, please.” Tommy pleaded as hot tears dripped from his eyes involuntarily. He twitched his fingers desperately, any movement or strength he could summon working towards getting to Tubbo. 

“You’re so compliant now Tommy, too bad you don’t understand me at all.” Dream tsked at him from behind the stupid fucking mask. 

“LET HIM GO!!” Tommy found enough strength to roar the words, managing to lift an arm enough to reach out—it dropped to his side uselessly after a moment. 

“Tommy…” Tubbo had found his voice, barely a whisper through the effects of the potion. 

Dream drew a knife. 

“You are going to lose everything you care about Tommy.”

“NO!! Please Dream, take me instead! Just take me instead… please. Why won’t you just kill me Dream?!” Tommy shrieked, trying to push himself away from the rock, but Dream brewed his potions strong. He couldn’t even accomplish any movement beyond insignificant twitching. 

“Because Tommy. That wouldn’t be any fun.” 

Dream raised the knife, deadly sharp, to Tubbo’s throat. Tubbo didn’t manage a scream or wail, all he could do was look at Tommy with terrified eyes as Dream pressed the blade firmly under the left side of his jaw. In one swift movement the blade was drawn sharply across his neck and Tommy screamed for him. 

“TUBBO!! NO PLEASE!!!” He shrieked as Dream stood, picking up Tubbo and haphazardly laying him across Tommy's legs before stepping to the side. 

Dark red blood pumped out of Tubbo’s neck with every faltering heartbeat. It soaked into Tommy’s pants and the ground, slicking the area with still warm lifeblood. His best friend gasped and wheezed through the new hole in his neck, squirming a little despite the effects of the potion. Tommy managed to raise a hand enough to cradle Tubbo’s head, trying to provide any comfort as he bled out in his lap. 

It took longer than Tommy expected for Tubbo to grow entirely still. For almost a minute Tubbo’s body clung to the throes of life, though it felt like eons to the boy who had lost everything. 

Then he was gone. Tommy looked into lifeless blue eyes, already looking more grey, frozen in an eternity of fear. 

“There. _Now_ you’ve lost everything.” 

That smug bastard son of a bitch.

“I’ll kill you Dream.” Tommy growled the words, gradually regaining enough movement to pull Tubbo closer to his chest. 

“Oh?” Dream sounded vaguely amused.

“If you don’t kill me right now, I won’t rest until you die every death you deserve and more. I will do whatever it takes to hunt you down Dream.” Tommy kept his eyes glued to Tubbo’s lifeless face. Something dark grew in his chest.

“Is that so?” Dream kneeled in front of him, Tommy finally looked up. The man casually removed his mask, green eyes exposing his cruel glee. 

“I’ve got nothing to live for Dream, and that makes me dangerous. I will fucking chase you to the ends of the earth if I have to, I will do nothing but train and prepare. And I will make you suffer.” 

There was a moment where the two men, one with cruel green eyes, one with empty blue ones, just stared at each other, measuring their resolve. Then Dream stood, grinning as he broke their gaze. 

“Good Tommy. I’m glad you finally understand what I want. I’ll see you soon.” 

The masked man walked away, leaving two broken boys in the field. 

Both were soaked in blood. Both gazed blankly at the sky above. 

Only one breathed. 

Tommy knew he was being molded into the perfect opponent that Dream craved. He didn’t care anymore.

Tommy had lost everything he cared about. 

He ran his hand through his dead friend’s soft brown hair and whispered to no one.

“Why couldn’t you take me instead?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written quite a while ago now.....  
> Oh how things change, though honestly I wasn't that far off in some ways.   
> This one hurt to read for editing... I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> As always, I love comments and seeing people's reactions  
> Thank you for reading!! <3  
> \--R&T


	6. Day 6: Hostage Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are back in the Schlatt administration. (pre-red festival)  
> Schlatt finds out about Tubbo's true loyalties, but decides holding him hostage and getting some information might be better.  
> Tommy cares about Pogtopia's goals, but with Tubbo in danger....  
> What will happen when Techno finds out?
> 
> Technoblade, Tubbo, Tommy, Quackity, Schlatt, Wilbur mentioned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the first one-shots I wrote for this and is a story idea I've had for a while.
> 
> TW: abuse, manipulation, anxiety, panic, imprisonment, pulling feathers, alcohol, drunkenness

Tommy shuffled his feet, breath coming out in puffs in the brisk morning air, fogging in front of his face like smoke. 

Tubbo was late again. Tommy rubbed his arms, stirring the circulation as he waited for his friend to arrive. His eyes scanned their meeting place casually, just trying to keep himself occupied. Wilbur would kill him if he got bored or distracted. But Tommy could barely keep himself still. He missed Tubbo so much and even their tri-weekly meetings were far too short. Especially since so much of the time in them had to be spent sharing information. 

Wilbur was getting increasingly dissatisfied with the intel Tubbo had been giving them, Tommy really hoped his friend had something good this time. He shivered again, too-light shirt not providing much protection against the morning breeze. Anxiety churned in his gut despite his optimism. Where was Tubbo?

Crackling footsteps caught his attention. The blond boy eagerly bounced on the heels of his feet, finally. 

“Hey Tubb—”

The person who entered between the trees was not Tubbo. Tommy jerked back, bewilderment making him clumsy as he stumbled backwards. Schlatt stepped into the morning light, mocking smirk all too confident. 

“Hello Tommy.” 

The horned man took another step as Tommy prepared to flee, not willing to risk being captured by the dictator that had thrown him out. 

“Oh, wait a moment won’t you? That is, if you want to see Tubbo again.” Tommy froze in his tracks, slowly turning to face Schlatt’s darkly sinister eyes. He flinched as Schlatt laughed, the tall man lazily running a hand through his hair between the curved horns as he did. 

“That got your attention. Yeah, I found out your little game. That Tubbo is a filthy traitor, spying for you scum.” Schlatt spat the words, alternating between malice and conversational ease between each phrase. “So, I had him followed a couple days ago and nabbed him once he got back. He’s locked up nice and tight.” 

Tommy glared daggers, furious blue eyes masking his fear. Tubbo…

“What do you want Schlatt?” 

“Oh that’s simple Tommy, I want what you wanted, a man on the inside. I want information about your and Wilbur’s plans. I wouldn’t have cared but… well… Technoblade joining makes you a bit more of a threat.”

Tommy was not having it. As if he would tell him anything!

“No! Go fuck yourself Schlatt!” To his surprise, Schlatt only nodded. 

“Okay Tommy, if that’s what you want.” Schlatt turned and started to walk away. “Any message for Tubbo? I’m a generous man, I’ll deliver it for you before he’s executed for his crimes.” 

Tommy felt his blood run cold. No. He wouldn’t, surely not…

Of course he would. It was J-Schlatt. 

“Wait. If I… gave you information… Tubbo would be safe?” Tommy felt as if he were betraying everything, quite literally betraying his brother, just for considering it. 

“Of course, if that’s what you want, wouldn’t have you spying for me for nothing. Consider a stay of execution for him your… payment.” 

The two stared at each other for a long minute. Tommy couldn’t believe this was happening, but in his mind he knew what he was going to do. He couldn’t let Tubbo die. 

“Fine.” 

“Good choice.” Tommy considered if he could draw his sword and attack fast enough to wipe that smug look off Schlatt’s face, but ultimately decided against it. He wouldn’t come here alone. More than likely there was someone waiting in the trees, ready to jump out if Tommy tried anything. Besides, he couldn’t risk Tubbo paying the price for his impulsiveness. Tommy forced himself to stay still. 

“Good. I’ll see you in a couple days, same place and time of course, have some good information for me.” Schlatt started to walk away, tossing a last comment over his shoulder. “Oh, and Tommy, don’t tell anyone about this. I’ll know. As far as Wilbur is concerned, you met with Tubbo and he told you I’ve been drinking my ass off in my office all week.” 

With that Schlatt was gone and Tommy was left standing alone in a grassy clearing. 

Dread filled his core. This couldn’t end well. 

No matter what he did, Tommy was sure someone he cared about would be hurt. 

He trudged back to Pogtopia slowly, his energy drained by the impossible choice he had been given. 

* * *

Tubbo practically huddled in the corner of the office, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. He didn’t even dare to wipe the drying blood of a split lip from the corner of his mouth, worried any movement would draw Schlatt’s ire once again. 

Things hadn’t been good since Schlatt found out he was spying for Pogtopia, not that he would have expected otherwise. It only got worse after Tommy was spotted lurking about. Tubbo knew he was being held hostage, but he wished Schlatt would just leave him in his makeshift cell rather than dragging him around with him at all times. The man was beyond paranoid. 

His drunken antics weren’t funny anymore. 

They hadn’t been funny for a long time really, but now they were dangerous. Being in the wrong place, looking the wrong way, anything could be interpreted as an escape attempt and would be punished as such. 

So Tubbo stood frozen in the corner hoping that Schlatt would let him go back to his room. Even solitary confinement was better than constant tension that permeated Schlatt’s every movement. It wasn’t like Tubbo was even a threat, Punz stood guard constantly, a single shout and he would be taken down. But still Schlatt insisted on his presence. 

Both jolted at a knock at the door. 

“It’s Quackity.” Punz’s bored voice was muffled through the wood. Schlatt grimaced and took another swig of liquor before answering. 

“Let him in.” The single threatening glance from the corner of the horned man’s eye was enough to keep Tubbo from even thinking about speaking up. He stared at the floor, not even bothering to look up when Quackity entered the room. 

“Hey boss! Got the first reports on that stage you want built.” Quackity entered with something approaching enthusiasm, though it quickly petered out as Schlatt berated him for a thousand tiny things. Tubbo glanced up as the conversation ended, expecting Quackity to already be out the door, but instead dark eyes met his blue ones cautiously. 

“Hey Schlatt, can I talk to Tubbo for a minute? I think he might have some good ideas for decorations.” Quackity ventured to ask the question hesitantly. The man’s brown wings were bound behind his back as usual, hidden underneath a black and blue-lined cape. Yet another thing Schlatt had insisted on when he became president. 

Tubbo couldn’t help but tilt his head quizzically, did Schlatt really not tell Quackity he was a traitor? It didn’t seem like the winged man knew about it, not by the innocent way he requested his presence. Expectedly, Quackity was shot down instantly.

“No, you can’t. Listen here, Tubbo is helping me with a personal project, don’t expect to see him around at all, okay?” Tubbo was surprised when that wasn’t the end of it, the drunken president was already glaring at Quackity with unveiled threats. But he tried once more, eyes scanning Tubbo’s face with increasing concern.

“I just thought, you know, as your vice president maybe I could talk—”

“Are you questioning my orders?” Quackity flinched back instantly, eyes growing wide with restrained fear. 

“No, no Schlatt of course not! You’re the president after all…” The attempt was weak. Schlatt walked around the table as Quackity gulped. 

“You know what, I think I need a new quill to write with.” The look on the horned man’s face was just daring Quackity to protest. With the lantern behind him Schlatt cast a dark shadow over Quackity as he leaned forward, grabbing the smaller man’s shoulder and shoving him to the floor with far more force than was necessary. Quackity started to breathe more erratically, clenching both hands on his knees with white knuckles as Schlatt roughly yanked his cape away. 

“Schlatt, please—” was all Quackity got out before Schlatt harshly yanked, pulling a still bloody feather, from his wing. The dark-haired man bit back a yelp of pain, Tubbo knew as well as he did that further attempts to protest would only make it worse. 

“Hmmmm” Schlatt held up the feather and tilted it around in the light. “No, this one won’t do at all.” 

The horned man cast it to the floor carelessly and grabbed Quackity’s wing again. 

There was a small ring of bloody feathers on the floor around the kneeling man before Schlatt was finally satisfied. Quackity was breathing heavily, Tubbo could see tears streaming down his face from the pain of being plucked. Or maybe the indignity. Tubbo respectfully looked away as the older man stumbled to his feet, swaying slightly. 

Tubbo felt a twinge of pity despite his own circumstances. Quackity was almost equally held hostage, hated by all for putting Schlatt in power, and mistreated like this by the only person who would allow his company. 

That didn’t mean he didn’t have to swallow a bit of bitterness as Quackity fled through the door, escaping the confines of the terrible office. 

He could get away. Tubbo couldn’t. 

As Schlatt sat at his desk and pulled from another bottle, Tubbo dreaded what it meant for him. 

The boy felt the first pangs of hopelessness start to settle in his chest. 

He wasn’t getting out of this. 

* * *

Someone watched as Tommy sprinted through the forest, carefully dodging through trees to stealthily follow him to his destination. Eventually they saw where Tommy was headed. 

The blond teen carefully crept to the border of L’Manburg, peering through a ruined building towards the white house. The person hiding could only watch as Tommy crouched there for almost an hour, just appearing to be watching the building. Eventually Tommy turned and headed back towards the ravine that housed Pogtopia. 

The person decided they had seen enough. They stepped out in front of the boy as soon as they had a chance. 

“What!? Oh…” Tommy yelped when he was startled, blue eyes flashing as he jerked away. “What are you doing here Techno?” 

Technoblade watched the son of his best friend and ally’s face turn frightened. He was scared to see him there. 

“I was wondering the same thing Tommy.” 

For a long moment the two of them were at an impasse, neither willing to make a move. Technoblade had come to Tommy’s and Wilbur’s aid due to their connection to Philza. Techno had once promised he would help his mentor’s sons if he could, and this was an opportunity to do so. But something was going on beyond just war or overthrowing the government, that was clear. 

Wilbur was erratic at best and Tommy spent the last week sprinting around with thinly veiled anxiety. If Techno was going to help them win this war, he needed to know what was going on. 

“Tell me Tommy, why are you here?” Tommy stood in normal defiance, too proud to back down. Techno prepared for a long argument. 

To the warrior’s surprise, Tommy suddenly dropped his head, staring at his feet.

“I can’t. He’ll hurt him.” The words were choked out. Technoblade blinked slowly. Was Tommy crying? He had never heard the boy sound so defeated. 

“Hurt who?” Techno slowly stepped closer and dropped his hands away from his weapons.

“I… He said he would know if I told anyone. I—I can’t.” 

“Tommy.” Techno waited until the younger boy lifted his head, tear-filled blue eyes hesitantly meeting his. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’ve got no loyalties to anyone other than you and Wilbur. I have no reason to tell on you to anybody. And I might be able to help.” 

Tommy regarded him carefully, distrust and desperation fighting a war within him. Eventually his shoulders slumped. He looked exhausted. 

“It’s Tubbo. Schlatt knows he’s a spy, he’s holding him hostage. I… I’ve been telling him about Wilbur’s plans so that he won’t kill him… but… I don’t know what to do.” 

When Techno looked at Tommy he saw the faintest glimmer of hope in his eyes. He sighed heavily. Technoblade had only met Tubbo a couple times before, but he knew the spy was Tommy’s best friend. Him being held hostage was probably the only thing that could have convinced Tommy to work with Schlatt, based on how much he hated him. 

A hard knot started forming in Techno’s gut. What kind of person takes a kid hostage? Even a spy…

“Okay.” Technoblade replied with the single word, casually stepping aside to let Tommy pass.

“What? You can’t just say ‘Okay’ and walk away!” 

“I’ll break him out if I can, if not I’ll make sure he’s alright until I figure it out.” Techno was a little offended that Tommy looked so stunned. 

“You can’t tell Wilbur! Please… I’m worried he would tell Dream and then…”

“I won’t. Just keep feeding Schlatt information, nothing that would get Wilbur caught if you can help it.” Tommy nodded earnestly, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. He let out the slightest smile.

“I don’t know what I was worried about, I have the blade after all!” 

Techno shook his head in exasperation as Tommy jogged off towards Pogtopia. That kid was far too reckless. Still, the warrior focused on the task at hand. He needed to find out where Tubbo was first, then get information about how he was being guarded. 

Might as well start.

It was hours later when Technoblade had finally managed to creep close to the white house. 

The place was almost absurdly well-guarded. It was frustrating to have to dodge the patrols, but he managed. Techno always managed. Slowly he crept around the perimeter of the building, glancing in every window to get a feeling for the layout inside. 

The hybrid couldn’t help but feel alarmed at the security. Namely the fact that every window was heavily barred with iron and every wall was reinforced with cement and stone. This wasn’t the casual office space it looked like. This place was built to serve as a fortress if needed. 

He was beginning to feel discouraged when he glanced in yet another darkened room, nothing of note to see within. It was only his methodical determination that kept him going long enough to notice the row of windows near the ground. Each one was only about a foot square, heavily reinforced. He crouched to get a better vantage to see inside.

Most of them looked into a lavish bedroom. Good to know. Technoblade followed the row until they went into another darkened room, right next to the bedroom. He almost passed it by, it looked empty and was barely larger than a closet, but a slight movement within made him do a double take. 

As his eyes adjusted the piglin hybrid felt a surge of relief. 

A small form sat on a thin mat on the floor, huddled with his knees to his chest. He had found Tubbo. Carefully Techno reached out and tapped on the window, trying to get the boy’s attention. Immediately Tubbo jerked, eyes wide as he searched for the source of the noise, almost frantically. 

When he spotted Techno at the window he seemed to get increasingly distressed, shaking his head ‘no’ wildly and mouthing something indecipherable. Techno shifted to let more light into the room, the moon shone in over his shoulder. 

Tubbo’s blue eyes were bright in the white light, fear readable even to the warrior outside. His face was slightly bruised, and it looked like his lip was swollen. Technoblade carefully sat back on his heels, the reason for Tubbo’s anxiety suddenly all too clear. If Schlatt was on the other side of that wall… Techno couldn’t let him find out he was there, not unless he could get Tubbo out immediately. 

To do that, he would need more information. 

But how? 

Technoblade pondered the thought while he hid nearby, carefully avoiding several armed guards as they walked the perimeter lazily. By the time it was safe to return to the window he had an idea. There was a fair chance it wouldn’t work, but he might as well try. 

He crouched in front of the low window again, taking a moment to insure Tubbo was looking at him. The brunette hadn’t moved from the floor, but gazed up at him steadily. Techno put his hand in the center of the glass, where it was relatively unobscured by the iron bars. 

_“Do you know this?”_

He slowly and methodically finger-spelled the words, hoping that Tubbo’s focused gaze meant he knew what he was doing. Technoblade and Philza had developed the silent means of communication a long time ago, and he knew for a fact Philza taught it to his sons. It just all depended on if Tommy had thought to teach it to Tubbo…

_“Som”_

Som? Techno watched as Tubbo repeated the letters, heavy concentration written across his face. Some? That had to be it. Okay. Good. Tubbo probably couldn’t remember all the letters, but Techno could work with this. 

Over the next hour Technoblade repeated the alphabet with Tubbo, only interrupted when Techno had to dash away to hide periodically. Finally Techno felt confident that Tubbo would be able to communicate with him, if somewhat roughly. 

_“Are you okay?”_ Techno kept the message brief, watching as Tubbo mouthed the letters along with his signing. Tubbo raised his hand to respond, then hesitated. His face briefly looked conflicted, but he eventually gave his answer.

“ _Yes”_ That would have to do for now. There was only an hour or so before dawn and Techno needed some more information.

 _“Are you here during day?”_ Tubbo frowned.

 _“No. Office with him.”_ Techno bit back a frustrated groan. This wouldn’t be easy.

_“Guarded?”_

_“Always by door. Schlatt never alone.”_

Technoblade took a moment to take stock. This would require more preparation than he thought. The warrior was ready to just leave and start his work, but he took a last glance in the window. Tubbo was wiping his face where he sat crumpled on the floor. He looked so very hopeless. 

_“I’ll get you out. Stay strong.”_

* * *

“Be quiet Tubbo!” Schlatt snarled at him drunkenly, pacing the room while he ‘organized’ paperwork. Since the self-proclaimed emperor had already been drinking for a couple hours, it was fair to say nothing was successfully being organized. 

Tubbo was not actually making any noise, but apparently he had been breathing too heavily or something earlier and Schlatt hadn’t let up since. He cringed as the taller man moved past, always prepared for his to lash out. 

The brunette spy tried to let his mind drift, tried to pretend he was somewhere else. He was so tired and weak, not eating very much since he became a prisoner. Thinking of better places was the only way to stay steady on his feet for the long hours Schlatt required him to be in the office. Tubbo mostly thought about Tommy. Once he was free they could be together again, he could go outside and visit Pogtopia, he could built a bee farm or just walk through the woods. Tubbo wished Schlatt would tire himself out, that meant he could go to his room, and then Tubbo could talk to Techno. 

The piglin hybrid had started coming nearly every night, asking Tubbo for information about daily routines and security information with silent words. In reality Tubbo had long since run out of useful information to give. Most of the time was spent with Tubbo asking him random questions, about Tommy, about his farm, about anything really. It was just nice to talk to someone, even in a very limited way. 

Someone who wouldn’t hurt him. 

Tubbo didn’t know what he would do if Technoblade hadn’t started visiting him. He probably would have given up by now. 

Tubbo was yanked from his thoughts harshly when something hard impacted his head without warning. 

The boy couldn’t help but drop to the ground amongst the broken glass, hands clutched to his skull as blood beaded between his fingers. 

“ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!!!” Schlatt roared at him, hands now empty since the bottle was in pieces around Tubbo. 

Tubbo’s head spun with pain, he tried to blink stars out of his eyes as the world seemed to roll around him. Dizziness kept him on his knees as he tried to stay conscious, desperately afraid of being completely vulnerable in Schlatt’s presence, with him like this. Red blood trickled from his hairline, warm against his neck as it dripped down. 

“Is everything alright in here?!” The door slammed open as the guard entered, alerted by the disturbance.

“Just fine.” Schlatt laughed mechanically, standing over Tubbo in silhouette. “Tubbo here just dropped a glass. A real Tubbo moment, right Tubbo?” 

Tubbo forced himself to swallow, biting back his pain to answer in the way that would save him from more. 

“Yeah, that’s right. My fault.” He pushed himself to his feet, swaying. Schlatt walked over to the guard, going on about something…

It was hard to hear it for some reason. All the sounds felt like they were coming from very far away… Tubbo’s vision started to blur…

Everything faded away as Tubbo dropped back to the floor. 

He hoped he wouldn’t wake up in more pain. 

* * *

Technoblade fidgeted restlessly as he crouched outside the window. 

Usually Schlatt went to bed and Tubbo was locked in his room for the night by this time, but today neither had come downstairs yet. 

The warrior considered trying to peer in the office window, but it was on the second story and the risks were too high. All he could really do was wait. Technoblade hated just waiting. 

It made him feel helpless, and that was not a good look on him.

He ducked out of sight when the door opened, a flood of relief pouring into his chest. It was almost alarming how much he had grown to care for Tubbo over the past weeks, despite never really talking to him in person, Techno had been won over by his quiet determination and upbeat spirits. Technoblade had very few people he cared for, so it was always a little… nerve racking when someone joined that group. Especially when Techno didn’t expect it to happen. 

Once he was sure it was safe to do so, Technoblade leaned back in front of the window, cautiously peering into the space. 

He was puzzled for a moment, wondering why Tubbo was just laying down on his side, not moving…

The piglin hybrid focused on maintaining his composure despite the anger boiling in his gut. 

Tubbo was unconscious on the thin mattress, hair darkened with drying blood. He was hurt, things were escalating, and Techno still didn’t have a way to get him out of there. 

He kept a careful eye on the unconscious boy for hours, ready to storm the front doors if it looked like he was having trouble breathing. Technoblade tried to think through everything that could be going wrong right now, but the list was just too long… a blow to the head like Tubbo must have suffered wasn’t something to be taken lightly. 

It was nearly dawn when Tubbo stirred, slowly sitting up and gingerly touching his head. Technoblade dared to tap lightly on the window, just enough to get the boy’s attention. Tubbo looked up and faintly smiled when he saw Techno in the half-light. 

Technoblade didn’t return the smile, instead signing as rapidly as he dared.

_“Has bleeding stopped? Can you feel hands and feet? Are you nauseous?”_

Tubbo seemed to take a moment and consider, running his fingers carefully over the cut on his head, flexing his hands, and sitting more comfortably before responding. 

_“Yes. All okay but head hurts, dizzy.”_ He likely had a concussion, but hopefully a mild one. Techno breathed an audible sigh of relief. He couldn’t tell from out there if the bleeding had stopped, so it was good to know it had. 

_“What happened?”_ Tubbo briefly looked away, eyes staring at the outline of the door. The boy hunched over on himself, signing without meeting Techno’s eyes.

_“Drunk. Got mad, threw bottle.”_

Technoblade saw red. He climbed to his feet, determined to find some weakness in Manburg’s defenses immediately. Tubbo needed an escape, and soon. 

The warrior stopped when movement caught his eyes, he lowered himself slightly as Tubbo unsteadily stumbled towards the window, blue eyes desperately wide. 

_“Please stay. Don’t want alone. Please no alone. Please”_ Tubbo repeated the frantic spelling, sloppy as he crossed the tiny room. His blue eyes were filled with tears. 

Technoblade sat back down on the ground.

 _“Okay.”_ Tubbo briefly smiled, carefully lowering himself back down on the wooden floor. 

_“Thank you. How’s Tommy?”_ Technoblade stayed there the rest of the night talking to Tubbo, the sort of meaningless chatter the piglin hybrid typically hated made more palatable by how much it seemed to be soothing the captured boy in the cell. He finally left as the first rays of sun were cresting the horizon, any later and he would risk getting caught. 

Technoblade ended their conversation with the usual promise. 

_“I will get you out. Stay strong.”_

Tubbo nodded, smiling genuinely at the warrior despite the blood dried in his hair and the bruises on his face. 

Technoblade hoped he could get him out before the smile faded away for good. 

* * *

Tommy hated everything about this. 

He trudged through the forest with a sort of anxious intensity towards the meeting place. Tubbo was still captured and the way Techno looked when he had come home that morning wasn’t encouraging. Tommy was so worried for his friend it hurt. If that wasn’t enough, Wilbur’s new ‘villain’ attitude was downright disturbing. 

Not that the TNT would make any difference really. Not after Tommy had told Schlatt about it. He’d been trying to be vague with his information… but Schlatt knew where the TNT was. He didn’t know where the control room was, but it wouldn’t matter if the TNT was gone. 

At least that was one less thing to worry about.

Schlatt was waiting at the clearing, lazily flipping a gold coin in the air and catching it in his palm.

“Hello Tommy. Nice of you to join me.”

Condescending dickhead. Tommy glowered, refusing to volunteer any information, waiting for Schlatt to ask questions like the normal routine. Schlatt didn’t. Instead, the horned man straightened, dismissively waving his hand. 

“Listen Tommy, I just came to tell you about an event. A celebration I have planned for next week. You and Technoblade are officially invited to the festival of Manburg! It’s going to be a big deal, I expect you to be there.”

“That sounds like a trap.” Tommy didn’t hesitate to speak his mind. 

“Oh Tommy.” Schlatt chuckled menacingly. “That’s cute, you think you still have a choice. Tell you what, if you come to the festival, I promise you’ll get to see your little Tubbo. You have my word.” 

Schlatt flicked the gold coin at him and Tommy caught the projectile reflexively, cold metal felt like it burnt a hole in his palm. 

“See you at the party.”

Tommy hated everything about this. 

He hated that Schlatt was right. He didn’t have a choice. 

Tommy left to seek out Technoblade, surely he would have a plan by now. 

Tommy could only hope.

* * *

Tubbo knew about the festival, how couldn’t he?

He was forced to stay with Schlatt most of the time after all. 

Still, a pit of dread tightened in his gut when Schlatt woke him up early to prepare. The emperor of Manburg seemed far too excited for comfort. A sort of arrogant eagerness that sent chills down Tubbo’s spine. 

Tubbo followed him as he made preparations around the White House, diligently keeping pace as unobtrusively as he could. He couldn’t help but glance out the windows occasionally, noticing people gathering outside. It looked like nearly everyone was there. 

“Watch where you’re going!” Tubbo stifled a yelp when Schlatt shoved him, bruised ribs protesting the sudden movement. A result of yet another time the man took out his frustrations violently. 

Quackity rounding the corner saved Tubbo from a possible repeat. 

“Hey Schlatt, it’s almost time for the speech—” The vice-president cut himself off when he saw Tubbo, dark eyes widening. The boy almost snorted. He probably looked like a mess. Quackity had been avoiding Schlatt for a while now, understandably, so he hadn’t seen Tubbo much either. 

Tubbo passively stared back at Quackity, noticing the dark circles under his eyes and familiar shaped bruises on his arms. Obviously the man hadn’t been totally successful in staying clear of their ‘president’. 

“Good, good. Just a few more preparations.” Schlatt rubbed his hands together, giving his nearest guard a significant nod. 

“Hey, uh, shouldn’t we get cleaned up a little bit? I can take Tubbo and—”

“No Quackity, that won’t be necessary.” Tubbo flinched as his arms were drawn roughly behind his back, immediately being tied tightly at the wrists. Quackity started to voice protests but—

A resounding smack rang through the foyer, Schlatt shaking his hand out as Quackity stumbled back against the wall. The winged man clutched his own hands to his face as he stood stunned. 

Then Tubbo was pulled out in the sunlight for the first time in what felt like months. He took deep breaths, enjoying the clear air. He knew that this boded very poorly for him, but he still was determined to stay hopeful. Technoblade had told him he would be here, that he would use the festival to get him out of Schlatt’s grasp. 

Tubbo would stay strong. 

Even as he was shoved into a wooden box by unrelenting hands, the iron bars at the front open at his chest to display him to the bewildered audience, Tubbo remained stoic. 

The boy stood in the center of the cell, scanning the audience for his friends while Schlatt waxed poetic about a traitor getting the justice he deserved. 

Tubbo felt a pang of fear when he couldn’t see either of them. 

He forced himself to keep breathing steadily. Stay strong.

* * *

Technoblade knocked out the guard at the White House door before he could raise the alarm, letting the armored man fall heavily to the ground. 

The speech would be the best chance he had to rescue Tubbo, he had run through the plan in his mind a thousand times. He knew the layout of the building perfectly, he could get in and out of that cell in minutes. 

His plan was brought to a screeching halt before it could truly begin. 

Techno froze in the front hallway, raising his sword towards the dark-haired man leaning against the wall. Quackity raised a single hand in surrender, the other remained pressed to a bleeding lip. 

“Take me to Tubbo.” Technoblade spat out the order. The winged man had a deep seeded fear of him, this should be even easier now. 

“He’s with Schlatt, on the stage.” Quackity murmured around his swollen lip. Techno jolted, something closer to fear than he had felt in a while surging through his veins. 

“What does he have planned?” Techno was less aggressive this time, it was obvious threats weren’t necessary. 

“I don’t know… but it can’t be good. He tied his hands up, dragged him out there Technoblade—” Quackity’s voice quaked with restrained fear, Techno was already turning to exit. 

He rushed towards the stage, rage and fear blurring his senses. He was vaguely aware of Quackity running along behind him, but he didn’t seem like a threat right now. 

**“Oh Technoblade? I know you’re around here somewhere. Come and join me on the stage, won’t you?”** Schlatt’s voice rang through the area and forced Techno to reconsider charging in. Slowly he approached the podium. 

“Everyone give a warm welcome to Technoblade! Fun fact, this man came here to try to rescue Tubbo, won’t it be a fun twist to have him be his executioner?” The audience was roaring, though whether in agreement or protest Techno couldn’t discern. 

There he was. Technoblade stepped out onto the stage and immediately spotted Tubbo where the boy stood trapped in a wooden cell, iron frame secured around the edges. The brunette’s blue eyes sparked with hope when he saw Techno there, he took a step closer to the waist-high barrier in front. Here, in the light of day, Tubbo looked even worse for wear than Techno had known. He was spotted with bruises, blood-stained spots stood out on his shirt, and his hair was still matted with week-old blood. His legs trembled as he stood as a macabre exhibition by a cruel tyrant. 

Technoblade turned furiously towards the man responsible. 

“Now, before you do anything rash, consider…” Schlatt seemed to predict his murderous intent, proudly gesturing as another guard walked out from behind a curtain, dragging along a tall blond figure. 

Tommy.

No, no, they had Tommy. They had Tommy too. He knew it was a bad idea for Tommy to come! He told him to stay hidden but… what else could he expect? Tommy was almost like a brother to him, or perhaps a nephew. He was family because of Philza. He was rash, and now he was caught, growling and thrashing until Schlatt drew a sword to his throat. 

Then Tommy was forced to grow still. 

“You will execute the traitor for his crimes, right now! In front of everyone! Or else Tommy dies. Your choice Technoblade.” 

There it was. The ultimatum. Technoblade’s mind spun as he considered all his options. They weren’t good.

There was no way he could get everyone out of here unscathed. 

“Make your choice now! Or I’ll make it for you.” Schlatt tightened the sword on Tommy’s throat, Technoblade saw blood start to drip as the edge of the blade cut into the skin. 

He drew his crossbow, unloading the arrow quickly and instead placing a rocket in its place. Then two more. Technoblade finally met Tubbo’s eyes. 

* * *

Of course he would choose Tommy. It made sense, it made sense.

Tubbo wasn’t even angry as Technoblade loaded the crossbow. He just felt… empty. Tubbo wished he could see Tommy, but from where he was, trapped in a box, he couldn’t spot him. The boy winced as he heard Quackity shouting protests, the vice-president would be paying for that later. He hoped it wouldn't be too bad…

As Techonblade started to raise the weapon, Tubbo reflexively moved back, hands tied behind him pressing to the back of the cell. He had stayed strong… Tears filled his eyes now. 

There was no point in holding them back. 

Still, his vision wasn’t too blurred to see Technoblade briefly drop a hand from the weapon. Weeks upon weeks of practice meant he read the rapidly signed words without thinking. 

Technoblade spoke aloud as his hands relayed a different message. 

“I’m sorry Tubbo, I’ll make this as painless as possible.”

_“Eyes shut.”_

Tubbo squeezed his eyes closed as the world exploded.

* * *

At the last second Technoblade twisted the weapon in his hands slightly, adjusting the trajectory of his projectiles. 

He had to do this all quickly, before any guards caught on to the nature of the crossbow in his hands. He could only give Tubbo the slightest warning before he fired, pointing the primary rocket directly at the metal grid on the lower part of the cell. 

All hell broke loose as the fireworks exploded in furious heat and color, undoubtedly blinding anyone who didn’t look away in time. 

Technoblade was charging to the side before the shock could wear off, twisting Tommy away from Schlatt as the horned man stumbled blindly, the secondary rocket that had exploded near him throwing off his balance. Tommy was immediately clutched to his chest with one arm, tucked safely under his cloak as he raised the weapon once again. This time he didn’t adjust the fatal nature of his aim. 

The rocket exploded directly in the tyrant’s chest. He let out a terrible scream as he was torn apart and burned. It was less than he deserved. 

Technoblade dropped the bow in favor of his sword as a couple brave guards charged, having to fight defensively to keep a very stunned Tommy safe at his side. By the time he dispatched them, there were other priorities. 

Tommy started struggling against him, having come to his senses enough to protest what he thought Techno had done.

“TUBBO!!” Tommy shrieked his best friends name, only barely being prevented from squirming away by Techno's grip on his arm. 

Technoblade ducked as a few arrows flew past, but the opposition was starting to melt away. It was getting hot on stage as the wooden beams caught fire along with the floor, the rockets starting a chain reaction no force could end. Technoblade couldn’t suppress a grin as the flames grew. He hoped this whole country burnt to the ground. 

A cry of pain drew his attention as the stage started to crumble. 

Tubbo. 

An overhead beam cracked loudly as Technoblade sprinted through the flames, Tommy safe from the burning heat in his cloak. 

The cell, the cell Tubbo was trapped in, was surrounded by flames. The sides of it were lit up, warping the metal frame with the heat. 

No. Not after everything. He couldn’t fail him now, not like this. 

Technoblade furiously rushed to the front, tearing the metal barrier away with brute force. 

Where he expected to see Tubbo, burning and trapped, he instead saw something his brain struggled to process. 

There was a brownish shape at the rear of the cell, something that twitched and flinched as the flames licked at it, but didn’t retreat. It took him a moment to recognize the brown as feathers, wings wrapped protectively around figures huddled in the burning fire.

Someone nearby screamed as the roof of the podium started to collapse. 

Technoblade tossed himself forward, sheathing his sword and pulling out his shield in one fluid movement, just in time to catch the debris as it started to rain down on top of them. He hunched over, hissing as flames burnt his exposed arm, but holding fast to protect the three people relying on him. 

He tossed the rubble to the side as soon as he could, grabbing Quackity under the upper arm and dragging him upward. Thankfully the winged man managed to pull Tubbo up with him. 

Technoblade wanted nothing more than to grab Tubbo and search him desperately for injuries, but this wasn’t the time. He half-supported, half-pulled Quackity along as he headed for the outskirts of Manburg. He had a base prepared, somewhere safe to go, away from everyone. 

Technoblade guided the haggard group towards it, ignoring Manburg as it burnt behind them.

Not a single one of them looked back.

* * *

Tommy anxiously stared at Tubbo the entire way to Technoblade’s hideout. 

His best friend looked terrible, even in the brief glimpses he could get through Techno’s cloak and Quackity’s scorched feathers. Tommy kept having to blink back tears. 

Tubbo stumbled along oddly, seeming to be almost… unalert to what was happening around them. When they reached the hidden refuge and Techno instructed them to enter the crack that served as a secret entrance one-by-one, Tubbo just blankly looked on with wide eyes, glancing around until Tommy guided him forward by the hand, careful not to touch the painful looking spots on his wrists where the rope had been bound too tight. 

“Tubbo, Tommy, go sit on that bed.” Technoblade immediately started digging through a chest, pulling out potions and medical supplies. Once again, Tubbo didn’t move until Tommy pulled him over, sitting next to him heavily. “Quackity, go sit on the cot, you’re going to pass out.” 

The winged man hesitantly obeyed, it looked more like a reflexive action than anything. 

Tommy turned his attention back to Tubbo as Technoblade joined them, laying out the supplies on the edge of the bed. 

“Alright Tubbo, can I see your arm?” Techno held out a hand and waited for Tubbo to give him the arm that was obviously burnt. Tubbo just stared, blue eyes rapidly filling with tears. Tommy reached forward, gently taking his hand again, looking on helplessly as his friend started to sob. 

“Tubbo, you’re safe now, I’m right here. We… we’re together right?” Tommy didn’t understand why Tubbo wasn’t responding to him. His friend didn’t even react to his words. 

Technoblade’s eyes suddenly widened. He waved a hand in front of Tubbo to catch his attention, then started rapidly finger spelling. Tommy could only catch parts of it, he was rusty, sue him. But he got the main idea.

_“Can – hear us?”_

Tubbo sniffled heavily, pulling his less injured hand free from Tommy’s to sign back.

_“No, ears ring. Can’t anything.”_

Technoblade suddenly kneeled in front of them on the floor, getting right down in Tubbo’s level to meet his eyes. 

_“Loud --- okay, give time, it’ll come back.”_

_“how do you know?”_

_“Promise, I had, one or two days. You’re safe.”_

Tubbo’s fearful crying slowly petered out at Technoblade continued to sign reassurances. Finally Techno lifted up a handful of bandages and reached out his hand once more.

 _“arm?”_ Tubbo readily obliged. 

Tommy huddled close and practiced his finger spelling as Techno treated Tubbo’s wounds. Before long the two of them were having full conversations in the silence. 

Tommy was just glad to have Tubbo back. They were together. Tubbo would heal, and they would be safe.

* * *

Technoblade crossed the room as the two boys huddled together, already half-asleep on the bed. 

Tubbo’s injuries were serious, but he would be alright. He only had a few minor burns on his arms from the rockets and resulting fire, the rest was older and would heal with time and treatment. As for Tommy, the cut on his throat was blessedly shallow. It probably wouldn’t even scar. 

Technoblade quietly gathered some more supplies before sitting himself next to Quackity on the couch-like cot. The man looked like he was asleep sitting up, hunched over and shivering, but largely non-responsive. 

“Hey.” Quackity flinched back violently, almost throwing himself off the couch before the pain made him gasp, eyes squeezing out tears. He trembled as he looked back at Technoblade, old fear mixing with his recent experiences to put him in a near panic. 

Techno carefully leaned back. It wasn’t exactly easy for him to be nonthreatening, but he was trying his best. 

“You’re hurt. You need medical attention.” Quackity shook his head, whimpering as his involuntarily shifted his wings. 

“I don’t exactly want to be touched asshole.” The words held no real bite. The man’s voice trembled as he spoke, belaying the fear he was trying to hide with bold words. 

“Can you do it yourself?” Techno asked the question genuinely. He didn’t think that the winged man knew how to treat injures, much less was capable of doing it on himself while clearly in shock, but he was more than willing to give him a chance to try. 

Unsurprisingly, Quackity shook his head. 

“Okay.” Technoblade carefully took out some burn cream, holding it out for the other man to see. “Turn away a bit, I’ll start with the burns on your shoulders.” 

Quackity hesitated for a long moment, as if he was considering simply succumbing to his injuries rather than letting Techno touch him. Eventually he relented, slightly turning so Techno was at his back. Technoblade winced out of sight. 

His shoulders and back was burnt severely and his wings…

His wings were just wrong. Burnt and missing gaps of feathers, bloody in places, torn in others…

They were mutilated. 

Slowly and gently Techno put some burn cream on his fingers and pressed it to the scorched skin, it would sooth the pain and help prevent infection. Then he would wrap the injuries in regen soaked bandages to help the burns heal. 

The process was far from painless, Quackity flinched and whimpered at every movement, sometimes Techno paused to let him catch his breath when it seemed like he stopped breathing from the pain. He needed to distract him. 

“Thank you for protecting Tubbo.” 

Technoblade tossed out the sentence before he realized how much he meant it. Tubbo could be the one shivering and in shock from severe burns by his hand right now. He would be, if Quackity hadn’t swooped in when he did. 

“He’s a good kid. He didn’t deserve any of… of that. I only wish—” Quackity hesitated, as if realizing he was rambling. Still, he continued, perhaps recognizing it was helping him deal with the pain. “I wish I had done something sooner. I didn’t realize what Schlatt was doing to him. But I should have. All the fucking signs were there, I was just too scared to get involved. So don’t thank me for being slightly less of an asshole.” 

Quackity went silent, pursing his lips. 

Technoblade finished the last bandages on his shoulders and stood. He carefully pulled a few things out of the cabinet, returning with a pair of scissors, some tweezers, and the widest tooth comb he had. Quackity tossed himself to his feet when he saw the handful of equipment, fearfully swaying as he started to back away, dangerously unsteady. 

Technoblade stopped moving. 

“Your wings are a mess.” He internally winced at his own blunt approach, but at least Quackity had stopped trying to escape. 

“What would you know!?” 

“Philza, I helped him with his wings for years. I know a thing or two.” That was an understatement. There were few people who didn’t have wings themselves with the level of expertise that Technoblade possessed. 

“You can’t pull my feathers!” Techno was startled as Quackity took an aggressive step forward, eyes filled with furious tears. 

Oh. 

Suddenly some of the bare patches didn’t seem like a result of the fire anymore. Slowly Techno set aside the tweezers, placing them back in the cabinet and shutting the door. 

“I need the scissors to trim away burnt edges that will catch on each other and scrape your burns. Some of these feathers only have the shaft left. But I won’t pull any out.” Slowly Quackity calmed down, taking deep breathes before he sat back on the couch. 

Still, when Techno moved close and took his wing in hand, he saw the smaller man visibly tense. Quackity’s hands were tight in his lap, fingernails obviously digging into his palms. 

“When is your next molt?” 

Technoblade tossed out the question softly while he started the arduous process of treating burns in and amongst feathers. 

“Dunno, soon hopefully.” Quackity’s voice was wet with restrained tears, but Techno chose to graciously ignore it.

“Why didn’t you get out of the flames?” Techno asked the question absentmindedly, only realizing how bad it sounded when the man’s wings twitched in his hands. 

“Rude much? I’ll have you know I jumped the fence to get to him, but not all of us can tear down wrought iron with our bare hands Technoblade. I couldn’t very well carry him over the gate either, he couldn’t walk at first anyway. Seemed best to just hunker down.” 

Techno tried to keep up some form of conversation as he worked on the arduous task of fixing up Quackity’s wings. Eventually he had done all he could for now. He hoped the man would let him preen him some once the burns healed though, his feathers didn’t sit right. 

The piglin hybrid retrieved some blankets and pillows, handing them to Quackity carefully. The dark-haired man gratefully nestled amongst them, curling up on the couch exhaustedly. 

“Thanks, Technoblade.” 

Techno nodded a response. Quackity was asleep before he crossed the room, snoring lightly. 

Technoblade checked on everyone in the refuge before he turned down the lantern. 

Tommy held Tubbo close to his chest, arms wrapped around each other as they slept. They were together. Tubbo was safe. 

Technoblade had fulfilled his promise. 

They were all free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer one for today!  
> At least I gave you one that ended on a happy note for a change! <3
> 
> I just really appreciate Tubbo and Technoblade having a good relationship, like Tubbo is part of the family with Tommy. I also like Quackity's character a lot... really fun to write.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you thought of this one!!  
> Thank you so much for reading.  
> \--R&T


	7. Day 7: Poisoning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dream team and Bad are doing a manhunt, but when Bad stops responding they get concerned.   
> Basically early dream smp characters in a world where manhunts are irl and death is temporary.   
> At least, temporary for humans, hybrids are... more of a risk. Respawns can be dangerous.  
> Also each world needs an admin, Skeppy is theirs 
> 
> Sapnap, Badboyhalo, Skeppy, George, Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Repawning is safe, for humans. For hybrids like Bad.... well....
> 
> TW: anxiety, panic

Sapnap whooped in excitement as he closed in on Dream, grandly gesturing for the benefit of the cameras floating in the sky as he did. The dark-haired man ignored George as he rolled his eyes, making faces mockingly out of view. 

“We’re coming for you Dreamie boy!!!” Sapnap grinned as George finally seemed to catch onto his excitement, ahead of them Dream dashed between the trees, choosing to flee rather than stand and fight both of them. 

Their new strategy for the manhunt was working pretty well so far, Sapnap glanced at George, reassuring himself they were still on the same page. George smirked and nodded, goggles covering much of his face. Neither of them had enough gear to really fight Dream, but while they kept on his trail, they made sure he couldn’t gear up either. 

Sapnap switched voice channels by clicking a button on his communicator, jumping into the call for the hunters only, where Dream couldn’t listen in. 

“Hey Bad, how’s the iron hunting going?” The young man frowned when he didn’t get a response. He slowed down distractedly, missing a jump and ending up on the ground instead of dashing from branch to branch in the trees. Dream yelled something mocking from ahead of them, but Sapnap didn’t pay attention. 

“Bad? Hey, you little muffin! You listening!?” He tried to keep his voice lighthearted, well aware of the camera’s recording them. No reason to ruin some footage just because Bad wasn’t paying attention. “Bad?” 

Sapnap slowed to a stop, ignoring the quizzical look George gave him. 

“I can’t get ahold of Bad.” Dream continued to dash ahead, unaware of what had gotten his pursuers off his trail for the moment, but surely glad for the respite. He loved getting an advantage in their games.

“If he is just not paying attention, I’ll kill him myself for giving Dream a chance to beat us, again!” George grumbled as he switched channels, pulling up the list to make sure Bad was in the call. “Bad, you there?” 

No answer. Sapnap felt an uneasy feeling stir in his gut. Normally this wouldn’t be concerning at all… they lost track of each other all the time, but something felt wrong. 

“I’m going to ring him directly.” Sapnap typed in the code and waited as the call rang. He knew that Bad’s communicator was giving off the most obnoxious ringing right now, both in the earpiece and out. Even if there was an issue with his mic he should know to type them a message. Both men waited under the trees as the line rang and rang. No response. 

“Okay, so the equipment is definitely broken.” Sapnap nodded along with George’s assertion, not wanting to think of any other reason Bad wouldn’t be answering. George flicked a few buttons and brought them both back into the main voice channel with Dream.

“Dream, hey.”

“Oh hey! Noticed you lost my trail, need a hint Georgie?” Dream boastfully jeered into the mic, smug satisfaction radiating through his voice. George just sighed long-sufferingly. 

“I think we will have to call this one, we can’t get in contact with Bad.” 

“Wait, really? This isn’t a trick or anything, right?” Dream still didn’t sound serious, feeling them out for if this was part of the video or some sort of bit. 

“No, he actually won’t answer us, we don’t know where he is.” Sapnap tried to convey that this wasn’t a game in his tone, fortunately Dream seemed to catch on. They all knew each other well enough to drop the fun and games immediately when needed.

“Okay. George, turn off the cameras and open the vc so I can get in the one he’s in. I’ll be right there.” Neither man bothered to question how Dream would know where they were, at this point it was a given that the speedrunner could keep track of their position, despite not having a compass to guide him. 

Sapnap joined back to the other voice channel as George and Dream did the same. 

“Bad?” Sapnap tried again hopefully. He took deep breaths, Bad was fine, they did this all the time. He could take care of himself and there was no reason to worry. There was no response from the man Sapnap saw as a sort of older brother figure. He adjusted his headband nervously, pushing his dark hair away from his eyes. 

He glanced up as Dream dropped from the trees and landed next to them, the speedrunner had his ever-present mask on, but once confirming the cameras were off he dropped it down around his neck. His green eyes held a hint of the same concern Sapnap was trying to suppress. 

“Where is he?” Dream panted lightly, having obviously sprinted the way there. He also had somehow acquired an iron chest plate and gold boots in the last few minutes. Sapnap couldn’t help but scowl lightly, that would have been a bitch to deal with if they had kept going. 

“He was going to mine us iron while we chased you, so he went into a cave near spawn.” George helpfully spoke up, already turning to jog in that direction. 

“We don’t know exactly where though, he could have gone practically anywhere.” Dream frowned, the expression crinkling his forehead. He had known Bad longer than any of them, and he knew as well as they did the dangers in the games they played. 

Sapnap was aware that bringing Bad into the games at all had been a risk, after all, respawning didn’t work as reliably for those who weren’t entirely human. Sure, the three of them could all die a dozen times with no ill effects, completely healed when they woke up at the respawn point, but they really didn’t know how it would work for Bad. In the past he would still be partially injured when he respawned, requiring further medical attention. There was always a concern amongst the group that if he was too injured, he could get locked in a cycle of dying and respawning endlessly. That had been rumored to happen to other hybrids, though it was extremely rare. 

There had been a gentleman’s agreement not to kill him, that he would back off if it came down to him and Dream in a fight. Obviously it was dangerous, but it seemed fine… they had done half a dozen manhunts with him now, and nothing serious had ever happened. The few times he had died he respawned slightly worse-for-wear, but ultimately was good to keep going. 

Still… not being able to get in contact with him sent a chill down Sapnap’s spine he couldn’t ignore. 

“Okay, where now?” Dream stood near spawn, already dashing around to look in any nearby caves. Sapnap did the same, disappointed each time he saw no traces of Bad. 

“There haven’t been any deaths logged…” George didn’t join the search, instead staring pensively at his communicator and typing on the small screen furiously. That was probably good. No deaths meant he wasn’t locked in some horrible—

Nope. Sapnap refused to think about that right now. 

“We should call Skeppy.” Eventually Dream rejoined the other two in the field, having exhausted the nearest options without finding any evidence Bad had been there. 

Whenever they created one of these worlds for a manhunt they made an outside party the admin. Usually it was Callahan but occasionally he wasn’t available. So this time it had been Skeppy who agreed to be given the admin powers and hang around while they played their game. The admins weren’t really needed, but you couldn’t create a world without giving someone that power, and to keep things fair it couldn’t be one of them. Mostly likely Skeppy was relaxing somewhere or something, having been strictly told not to interfere. 

“Skeppy?” George was the one brave enough to make the call, pulling Skeppy into their voice channel as soon as he answered. 

“What the fuck guys, I was sleeping!” there was a moment of silence that defied explanation, everyone automatically waiting for a chastisement that never came. “Where’s Bad?” 

Skeppy suddenly sounded much more alert, a tinge of alarm in his tone.

“That’s what we want to know, can you help us out?” Sapnap spoke up, ignoring how Skeppy groaned and whined about being bothered after they specifically said he could just relax. 

“Fine, yeah, whatever. You guys at world spawn?” After getting confirmation there was a pause, followed by a yelp and brief static.

**Skeppy was slain by Iron Golem**

All three men turned with more-or-less amusement as Skeppy appeared sitting on the ground a few feet away, groaning and jumping to his feet with contrasting energy. 

“What? I was at a village, it was the fastest way to get here without using the energy to teleport.” George rolled his eyes as Dream shook his head dramatically. Sapnap couldn’t help but snicker at the… unique, solution to the problem. It was true that an admin only had a certain amount of ‘energy’ to affect the world with, regained over time, but it seemed a little stupid to intentionally let an iron golem kill him. 

“Let’s just go, teleport us to Bad!” Sapnap was aware he sounded impatient, but this was urgent. Skeppy crossed his arms petulantly across the front of his bright blue hoodie, frowning. Sapnap felt a familiar heat of anger rise in his gut, he took a step forward, perhaps more aggressively than he intended. “Come on!”

“Sapnap, you know it’s not that simple, teleporting to someone is… risky. You don’t know how narrow of an area he is in, he could be surrounded by hostile mobs, or near lava…” George spoke up in Skeppy’s defense, but Sapnap wasn’t having it.

“I thought he was your friend! Shouldn’t you want to go find him as soon as possible!? He could fucking die!” Sapnap realized he fucked up too late to react in time. Pain flared across his jaw as he stumbled backwards, seeing stars. A hand gripped his collar fiercely and, despite being smaller, Skeppy shoved him backwards forcefully, knocking his back against a tree.

“Of course I want to go find him!! He’s my BEST FRIEND!! But what the fuck do you think is going to be accomplished if I teleport you guys in, barely armed and without armor, and you die immediately?! All that does is exhaust me and not help Bad at all!” Skeppy practically snarled as Dream dragged him away from Sapnap, grabbing him by the arms, but he still managed a last remark. “Shut the fuck up and be helpful!” 

Sapnap reached up to rub his jaw, feeling a pang of remorse when he saw a glint of tears in Skeppy’s eyes before the other man turned away from him, released the moment Dream didn’t think he would take another swing. George’s judgmental look, complete with raised eyebrows, didn’t help. 

Sapnap muttered a half-hearted apology, still cooling down, anger having trouble aborting its rise in his gut.

Skeppy didn’t look at him, arms once again clasped around his midsection as he stared at the ground. 

“Okay, so what do we do?” George’s question was met by every eye turning to look at Dream. Dream for his part stayed steady in the sudden attention. 

“We get some basic supplies, surface level iron, just enough to make weapons and armor. Skeppy spawns in some things we can’t get easily, healing potions, just in case. Then… can you modify the compass to point at him?” The attention shifted back to Skeppy, who tilted his head. 

“I don’t know… I didn’t make the enchantment, just implemented it from what George gave me when I made the world.” 

“Then George helps walk you through it. Let’s go.” 

The group hastily split to do their respective tasks. 

Sapnap hoped Bad would be able to wait. He couldn’t help but whisper into the voice channel.

“Just a little longer, we’re coming.” 

* * *

Bad drifted in and out of consciousness weakly. 

Every so often some outside stimulus would seep into his awareness, rousing him to a slightly more alert state, but it was happening less and less. The hybrid was covered in sweat, feverish and twitching as he lay helpless on the rough stone beneath him. 

He needed to… call someone? Maybe…

Bad’s head throbbed, the pain so intense it made him dizzy, even laying on the cave floor. He was aware that he was bleeding, that he had gotten hurt, that he was poisoned… or he had been aware. Now the hybrid’s mind drifted. He was sure he was somewhere else, remembering a time he had been sick at home, his friends twisted at his bedside, facing changing and unrecognizable as the memory faded. 

“Bad?” A voice pushed into his semiconscious state and he latched onto it.

He tried to push himself upright and failed, dropping down to the ground harshly. He could hear mobs moving around, including the chuckles of the witch that had started this whole thing. Maybe it would be best to just rest…

Bad was so tired. It really hurt…

He let himself settle back to the ground, hard stone feeling like a soft mattress as he seemed to sink into it. 

“Just a little longer, we’re coming.” 

* * *

Sapnap shifted from foot-to-foot uneasily, ignoring the glare that George shot him. 

He couldn’t help it, all these preparations were taking too long! He needed to get to Bad now, before he got so badly hurt that he would risk respawn looping. Sapnap had only known of it happening once before, to someone who was unaware they were a hybrid, but it was the thing he feared most in the world. 

He knew it couldn’t happen to him, but still, the idea of being stuck, dying and living, being healed by respawn just enough to delay your torture as you died again…

Sapnap shivered. 

Skeppy was bouncing anxiously too, the smaller man gripped the modified compass with white knuckles, biting at his lip tensely. Sapnap felt a pang of guilt for their earlier altercation. 

“Let’s go.” George grabbed the last piece of armor as soon as it had cooled, hastily formed iron still warm. They started jogging before all the straps were fastened, the brunette opting to do them as they went. Skeppy led the way, wearing a chest plate that was just a little too large and carrying a sword with practiced ease. The only one of them with more than that was Dream, who also had those golden boots. Swords, shields, and some armor were all they had. 

Oh, and a few potions Skeppy had drawn forth, seemingly from thin air with the admin power. It had tired him out some, but there was no chance he would consider staying behind, no one had even bothered to suggest it. 

“Here!” Skeppy slid to a stop and took a few steps back, pointing to a seemingly random patch of grass. Dream stopped next to him, pulling out a shovel and tossing George a pickaxe. 

“We dig here, don’t want to risk caving anything in on top of him.” Dream moved a few steps away and got to work. Digging down to him was risky, but it would be much faster than trying to find a cave entrance and hoping it was the right one, having to follow its twists and turns. 

Still, there wasn’t enough space for all of them to work on the hole, so Sapnap was forced to stand by and wait. It was an uneasy silence, broken only by the sound of tools impacting the stone and dirt below. Skeppy frowned heavily, the young man was unbelievably tense. Sapnap took a deep breath and forced himself to speak up.

“I’m sorry, about earlier.” He winced, rubbing the back of his neck ashamedly. “I know he’s your best friend… I was just… worried. But I really am sorry.” 

Skeppy didn’t respond for a moment, only biting his own lip. 

“It’s alright, I forgive you. I’m sorry for punching you.” Skeppy sighed, some of the tension in his shoulders loosening. “I know you care about him too.”

“For what it’s worth, I deserved getting punched for that.” The two shared a forced chuckle, trying to relieve some of their own anxieties. 

“He’ll be alright.” Sapnap broke from his thoughts to look back at Skeppy, the other man was glaring holes in the ground, speaking tersely as if to convince himself. 

“Yeah.” Sapnap tried to manufacture certainty. 

“We hit a cave, come on down!” The shout echoed up from the narrow hole, and both men burst into action. Sapnap lowered himself to the hole and started climbing down, sparing glances to check if he was close enough to drop the rest of the way. Eventually torchlight illuminated the floor before and he jumped, rolling to spare his ankles as much of the impact as possible. Skeppy was beside him in an instant, both taking in their surroundings, obviously seeking out something in particular. 

Dream and George were on either side, the tallest grunted as he caught the flailing arms of a zombie on his shield, dispatching it with a quick slash of his sword. George lit torches and tossed each of them one, sticking another into a crack on the wall, lighting up the area enough for Skeppy to see his compass. 

“That way.” Skeppy pointed to Sapnap’s left, down the tunnel. They only got a few steps before Sapnap stumbled, feeling something change underfoot. He glanced down, grimacing as he heard the hollow sound of wooden planks and saw the minecart rails. 

Mineshafts were great for finding iron and other valuables… but very dangerous.

“Bad!?” Skeppy shouted, trying to force himself past Dream, who stubbornly stayed in the lead, prepared to fight off any enemies. Sapnap himself was forced to dodge as a skeleton fired an arrow from a side passage, but kept going when George went to take care of it. 

“BAD?!” Skeppy finally got around Dream, and broke into a run, sprinting down the uneven tunnel. Sapnap followed seconds later. “Where are you?” 

There was no response, in comms or otherwise. The hope that this was just an equipment malfunction was quickly dwindling to nothing. 

Sapnap gasped as they entered a large cavern, crisscrossed by wooden platforms and scaffolding. His moment of distraction was forced to end quickly, Skeppy yelped from up ahead, flailing as an enormous cave spider dropped from the ceiling. 

But Sapnap saw where he had been headed. Dream was helping Skeppy fight it off, Sapnap would get to Bad. The dark-haired man ducked to the edge, evaluating the drop. It wasn’t too far. 

“A witch!! Dream help!” George shrieked in his familiar battle cry, but Sapnap wasn’t alarmed by his friends screeching, it was a fairly normal occurrence. Even though witches were dangerous, they could handle it together. Instead, he jumped off the ledge, hoping the ground beneath wouldn’t be too uneven for his landing. 

He stumbled ungracefully, wincing as his ankles throbbed, but ignored it. Sapnap had seen something, a glint in the darkness beneath the wooden platform. 

“Bad?” Sapnap rushed to his friend’s side, rolling him over as he set down his torch on a raised rock. 

Badboyhalo didn’t respond, whimpering something through pursed lips as he shivered violently. His usually charcoal skin was pale grey, and Sapnap felt sweat coating his brow. But he was breathing. 

“I found him!! Guys!” Sapnap shouted upwards, hoping he was heard over the sounds of the fighting going on above him. Meanwhile he shifted Bad, quickly searching for further injuries, pulling off his dark hood. Besides being pale and feverish, Bad was shaking and squirming, clearly in pain despite being unresponsive. Sapnap jerked when he pulled aside the cloak, noticing the odd angle Bad’s arm was at. 

But there was blood. Sapnap could see it on the ground….

There. 

An arrow stuck through Bad’s leg, fletching on one side, arrow-tip poking through the other. Sapnap sighed slightly, relieved it wasn’t worse. The arrow staying in the wound was probably all that had prevented him from bleeding out before they got there. 

“Bad?” Sapnap heard a shouted curse as Skeppy hit the ground nearby, far less careful not to hurt himself. Still, the smaller man was at Sapnap’s side in an instant, almost yanking his friend away from him.

“What’s wrong with him?” Skeppy panted, out of breath from the fighting above. “Bad? Bad come on, say something!” 

“Poisoned probably, broken arm and there’s an arrow in his leg, but those aren’t as serious.” Sapnap tried to calm Skeppy down before he could go into an all-out panic. 

“Okay, okay.” Skeppy took a deep breath. “I need him to wake up enough to drink a potion and some milk.” 

Sapnap was about to try to help, but Skeppy beat him to the punch.

“BAD YOU MUFFIN, WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!!!” 

As startling as the shouting was, it seemed to do the trick. Bad mumbled something under his breath, and pure white eyes blinked slowly open.

“—oh hi… Geppy and… hmmmm” 

Skeppy forced the healing potion to his lips before he could finish the incoherent gibberish, pulling Bad upright and resting him against his chest so he wouldn’t choke. Sapnap helped him adjust, rolling his eyes when Bad inevitably dropped his head to rest on Skeppy’s shoulder. 

“Sappynappy… sappynap…”

“Yep, it’s me Bad, hang on okay?” Bad shivered, clenching his teeth in pain. Sapnap reached forward and ran a hand past his horns, gently ruffling the black fluff that passed as hair for the hybrid. Bad leaned into the comfort, eyes drifting shut again. A pale glow lit up around Skeppy’s hand, the admin was concentrating fiercely, dark eyes reflecting the light. 

Eventually it settled, leaving a bottle of milk in Skeppy’s, now shaking, hands. 

“Here, have him drink this…” Skeppy handed the bottle over, too exhausted to do it himself. 

“Bad, wake up.” There was no response. “Bad, come on, help me out here?” 

Sapnap frowned, worry creasing his brow. He did have a last idea though…

“Bad, wake the fuck up!” 

“-mm language… you muffin…” 

Sapnap sighed exaggeratively, some of his worry melting away as Bad drank the liquid. Already the healing potion was starting to take effect and some of the color was coming back to his cheeks. 

“heh…” Bad tilted his head back towards Skeppy. “this is so… the moo…” 

Skeppy snorted, gently resting his cheek against the top of Bad’s head. 

“Sure Bad, whatever you say.” 

Sapnap carefully started treating the other injures, noting appreciatively that George and Dream seemed to have cleared out most of the mobs, and were now getting the place lit. They at least had the good sense to build a makeshift stairwell down instead of just jumping too, so the way up would be much easier. 

“Here...” Skeppy mumbled and held out a row of clean bandages, before letting himself slump back against the hybrid, energy spent. 

Sapnap finished cleaning the arrow wound when Dream crouched next to him. 

“How is he?” The runner’s voice was serious. Sapnap gave him a reassuring smile.

“He’ll be fine, soon. I assume the witch hit him with poison up there and he fell down here.”

George joined them, huddled around their two, now both sleeping, friends.

“That’s unlucky, witches are like, super rare.” 

Dream let out a long sigh of relief. 

“Let’s wait until they wake up to move then. No sense in risking trying to carry them out of here.”

Some of the tension eased as they all started to realize it was going to be okay, that Bad was going to be okay. 

“Well, I guess we’ll have to start again anther day, when do you next want to run?” George and Dream started chatting about the next time, lightly bickering. Sapnap joined in gamely. 

“Man, too bad, I was right about to knock you out of that tree too!”

“No you weren’t. Really it’s bad for me, this seed was amazing!” Dream shook his head ruefully, gesturing down at the slightly worse for wear golden boots. “Are you sure this wasn’t all a way to stop me from winning, I know I’ve beaten you a lot recently…”

“You want to one-v-one Dream? We can go, right now!” Sapnap eagerly drew his sword, grinning despite Dream not rising to the bait.” 

“There is no fucking way you are going to win a fight now with—”

“Language.” 

Pure white eyes glared at them through slitted eyelids. The whole group shared a knowing look, briefly sharing a smile, full of relief and contentment. 

Bad was going to be just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this one!   
> I really enjoyed writing Sapnap and Skeppy arguing for some reason due to both of them being close friends to Bad.   
> A happy ended one again! Wow!! 
> 
> Let me know what you thought if you want, I love comments!  
> Thanks for reading!  
> \--R&T


	8. Day 8:  "Hey, hey, this is no time to sleep"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy treks away from his exile into the frozen wilderness.  
> Three times he is sure he can't go any further, three times someone is there to keep him going.  
> One time he is safe. 
> 
> Tommy, Wilbur, Technoblade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my favorite's I've written....
> 
> TW: hypothermia, referenced manipulation, referenced exile

Tommy was cold. 

The kind of cold that sinks into your bones, that shakes you helplessly, that wraps you in its icy claws and drags you down to its depths. 

His thin shirt and torn pants were not doing enough to fight off the chill in the air. Worst were his feet, worn down shoes constantly filling with snow, some melting off his body heat just to freeze again in an icy coating. He stumbled, hands clenched in his armpits to keep some feeling in them, he had been walking for hours.

The young man had been so certain when he left, when his makeshift living place in exile had been destroyed in front of him, he knew he needed to go. And he had an idea where Technoblade was hiding out, there was nowhere else he could seek refuge, so there he went.

He was regretting it now.

Tommy trembled from head to foot, teeth chattering with painful intensity. All he could do was keep moving, the only thing keeping him warm was the blood pumping in his own body. 

But he was getting tired. 

His legs ached, his head throbbed, he was starved and weak from exile. He couldn’t keep going like this.

So when he tripped on something, invisible in the snow, he let himself stay on the ground. Just a minute.

Just rest for a minute, then keep going. 

Tommy felt briefly elated when the shivering seemed to get better and his feet stopped hurting as much. Pogchamp!

Just a few more minutes of rest, then keep going, to Techno’s base. Just a bit longer…

He figured if he was going to rest anyway, he might as well lay down, right? Yeah! That makes sense!

Just laying down for a bit…

Then…

* * *

“Hey, hey, this is no time to sleep.” 

Tommy jerked into awareness, the unfamiliar voice pumping his body with enough adrenaline to prop himself upright. 

“Wha—”

“Come on Toms! Let’s go!” 

Tommy stared openmouthed. The light, youthful, voice was painfully familiar, yet…

It was impossible…

Tommy rubbed his eyes with numb hands, wincing as his fingers flared with pain. The partially translucent figure remained floating in front of him, cheerfully smiling. It looked like fog or mist, formed into a human shape and colored into some semblance of opacity.

It was Wilbur. 

Not as he had been, not as he was when he died… no—this was Wilbur from a long, long time ago.

“Tommy, you know I’m supposed to take care of you, Phil said so, so let’s get moving!” The ghost stooped, brown eyes filled with light and warmth.

Love.

“Wilbur… how?”

The phantom looked faintly confused for a moment, face twisting in the old, exaggerated expressions, as well known to Tommy as his own self. Wilbur looked to be maybe 15, around the age when Tommy joined their family. When Philza was still running off on adventures regularly, leaving them together, brothers in all but blood. 

“I’m here to take care of you Toms, so get up.” Wilbur’s voice took on a tone that used to make Tommy feel scolded, now it was almost comical, Wil’s young voice pitched downward so intentionally.

Still Tommy forced himself to his feet, noting that he was taller than this Wilbur. 

“Okay, I’m up, dickhead.” Tommy added the last phrase on impulse, his brain felt slow, but it felt right. Wilbur stuck out his tongue and scowled in mock offense, starting to lead the way onward. 

Tommy couldn’t let him walk away. 

He followed. His feet felt like lead, and his body moved so slowly, like dragging through molasses, but he walked. Tommy hoped they were going the right way. As they walked they chatted intermittently, small, light-hearted jokes of times long past. Eventually Wilbur’s form started to flicker and fade. 

“Alright, I’ve got to go now, but keep on going, okay?” Wilbur looked at him, soft brown eyes sincere and innocent. 

“Okay…” Tommy mumbled the word, looking up as Wilbur’s childlike ghost hovered higher, reaching a hand towards his head. 

“Goodbye Toms.” For a moment Tommy was certain he felt a pressure, his hair being ruffled in the way he always protested, that always made him feel safe.

“Goodbye, Wilby.” 

Tommy blinked, and the ghost was gone. 

He kept walking. 

It felt like hours, or seconds, or… well, Tommy didn’t have a good sense of time. 

All he knew was the cold, the draining cold that sapped his energy, that made every footstep agony. It was so cold and oh god had his legs always been this heavy? His eyelashes kept freezing with crystals, forming off the fog from his breath. He kept his arms tucked to his body, desperate to maintain any dexterity he could, occasionally lifting them to his face to briefly fight back the biting cold on his cheeks and nose. 

But he stubbornly continued forward, gritting his teeth together, forcing himself to take each step. 

One, two, three, four

One, two, three, four

Keep going, keep walking

One, two, thr—

CRACK

Tommy yelped as his foot sunk down, lurching forward as it slipped past the ankle into the space underneath the ice. Into the water. He tried to catch himself with his arms, but they too ended up through the ice, one forearm getting a nasty scrape in the process. The water wasn’t deep, only a puddle really, a foot or two deep at most. 

But it was cold.

By the time Tommy had dragged himself out of it he felt completely drained. 

The water reached up and stole his body heat. His energy.

Already his shoe was starting to freeze, soaked with water through and through. Tommy only made it a couple dozen feet away before he found himself face down in the snow, legs simply refusing to cooperate. He pushed himself back up, slapping his face just to get some blood flow. 

He barely felt it. 

But everything hurt, and everything was numb. 

Tommy forced himself to move, but eventually it was just too much. The mental fatigue was wearing on him as much as anything, he just couldn’t build up the motivation to keep going onward. 

He had been exiled… no one cared… no one visited… why bother fighting the cold?

The cold was wrapping around him, and Tommy let it happen.

* * *

“Hey, hey, this is no time to sleep.” Tommy stirred slightly, responding unconsciously to the command in the voice. His eyes drifted open, lazily seeking the source.

He noticed color first, red and blue, white and gold…

“Come on Tommy, we’ve got things to do!” 

Wilbur floated over him, dressed in full L’Manburg uniform, hand outstretched.

“Wilbur…”

“Come on Tommy, I know you can keep fighting. You’re Tommy, big man, are you really going to let some poor weather get the best of you?” Tommy felt something warm in his gut, Wilbur’s words fueling some inner determination. 

He slowly, painfully, forced himself to his feet. 

“Alright, there.” The blond swayed, but he was on his feet. 

Wilbur’s ghost grinned proudly.

“There we go, that’s my right-hand man!” 

Tommy smiled despite himself, despite the pain and cold. Wilbur sounded so inspirational, just like when he wrote their declaration and bolstered them when they headed into battle. He followed his brother’s ghost as he led the way forward. 

It was so good to see him again like this, even if it was just a hallucination… Tommy was glad for it. Wilbur didn’t let up, constantly prodding him to keep moving, to not stop fighting. The ghost led the way, but never stopped turning to check on him.

All too soon the phantom started to grow fainter. 

“I’m sorry I can’t stay longer Tommy, but keep fighting. You’ve always been passionate, you’re fire Tommy, you can do this.” 

Wilbur raised his hand in the salute of L’Manburg, and Tommy did his best to replicate it with frozen fingers.

“Goodbye Mr. President.” 

Wilbur had vanished by the time Tommy’s hand dropped back to his side, quickly tucked to his underarm. 

Tommy kept going, he kept fighting. 

The cold stole his energy, so he used his passion instead, raw determination forcing every forward step toward safety he knew was out there. He knew it.

He was the big man Tommy Innit… he wouldn’t give up.

He wouldn’t…

His mind seemed to slow as he continued on, the thoughts moving in odd circles, he almost forgot where he was going several times.

Why was he out here in the snow and cold? Why didn’t he just go back to L’Manburg? L’Manburg never had snow like this…

Where was Tubbo?

It didn’t seem so cold anymore… the shivering had stopped completely. 

He was really tired… why not sleep? He knew there was a reason but...

Tommy might have been able to fight it longer if not for the hill. In his muddled state he didn’t recognize the slope until it was too late, stumbling and rolling down it to fall in a heap at the bottom. 

He was unconscious before his body lost its momentum. 

* * *

“Hey, hey, this is no time to sleep.” 

The gentle voice wouldn’t have roused Tommy if not for the addition of a new sensation, a spot of warmth on his face that defied explanation.

“Wake up Tommy… wake up for me…” 

Eyelashes cracked as he forced them open, so heavy…

“There you go, come on.” There was nothing but blurry motion for a few seconds… there was yellow… bright yellow…

“Wil…”

He wasn’t cold, he was so comfortable, why wouldn’t Wilbur let him sleep? 

“You need to get up Tommy, I know you don’t want to, but you have to.” Slowly a face came into focus, round glasses rested below a mop of brown hair, partially tucked into a beanie. A yellow sweater encased Wilbur’s upper body… it looked very warm…

“Why?” Tommy managed the single word, forcing his frozen lips to cooperate. 

“You’ll die Tommy, if you don’t get up and walk, you will die.” The voice was gentle, so compassionate. Tommy realized the warmth on his cheek was Wilbur’s hand cradling his head. The ghost was the most solid he had seen yet, sitting crisscross on the snow, though not leaving any indent. 

“oh…” Tommy didn’t have the strength to feel afraid, his mind struggled to complete a single coherent thought anyway.

“Please, Tommy, stay awake, I know you can do this.” Tommy vaguely was aware that Wilbur was crying, though the tears never seemed to make impact. “I screwed up Tommy, more than I can ever adequately apologize for, but you’re strong, there is so much you can do.”

Tommy’s consciousness formed a realization, one Tommy was sure should bring him emotion, but didn’t yet…

This was Wilbur, and he remembered everything…

“I promise Tommy, you don’t have to go far, you are so close Tommy.” 

Tommy tried and failed to push himself up, letting himself flop back into the snow. It was soft… and nice… he could just close his eyes and rest a bit, surely that wouldn’t be bad—

“Tommy! Listen to my voice, focus. I can’t—I can’t carry you, or I would. You have to do this yourself, but I’ll be right beside you! Please Tommy, stand up.” 

For several agonizing seconds Tommy didn’t move, the ghost dropped its head to its own chest, weeping. The blond was bracing himself. With a groan he managed to sit upright, feeling a slight pressure on his arm helping him stay steady. 

“Yes! Good job, keep going.” Wilbur kept up his encouragements, bordering on desperation in their intensity. Tommy made it to his feet. 

Movement was painfully slow, but there was progress…

Tommy saw a light in the near distance, bright enough for him to focus his eyes on it with single minded determination. Each step took what seemed like ages, Tommy almost just laid back down several times, wishing for the comfort of sleep. Wilbur never let up, apologizing and motivating in equal measure.

Tommy was surprised when his foot bumped into something hard, he tilted his head, puzzled at the wood near his legs. Oh… steps… he knew what to do with those…

His leaden body had lost its muscle memory to the cold, when he tried to climb the stairs he slipped, instead dropping onto his side near the bottom. His head rested on the edge of a stair, far less comfortable than his previous snowy bed. 

Wilbur dropped to a crouch in front of him, both brothers were bathed in the warm glow of the lanterns.

“You made it Tommy. I knew you could.” Tommy felt a warm hand comb through his hair, soft and comforting. “I love you Tommy.” 

Tommy blinked heavily, drawing enough breath to respond brokenly. 

“—love you Wil…” 

Wilbur seemed to disappear from view… Tommy was only vaguely aware of knocking nearby, an odd hollow sound in the muffled snow…

His eyes drifted shut despite his discomfort. He was tired enough to sleep anywhere.

The door creaked as it opened. 

Heavy footsteps plodded down the stairs, and Tommy was drawn up into warm arms, his head lolling against the older man’s shoulder weakly. 

“Hey, hey, this is no time to sleep.” The low voice spoke with rough amusement, forced as he urgently brought Tommy into the house and started ministering to him. 

The crackling fire cast waves of heat as Technoblade tended to his younger brother. It was almost two hours later when he finally sat back, convinced that Tommy would be alright, that there was nothing that wouldn’t heal. He had gotten here just in time…

How had he managed?

Technoblade pondered as he absentmindedly carded a hand through his brother’s blond hair, now warm and dry. 

The brothers sat together in front of a fire, finally safe, finally together. 

Tommy had made it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this one!!!  
> I honestly am very proud of it, a bit different in tone, but I am pleased with how it turned out. 
> 
> Let me know what you thought!  
> Thank you for reading!  
> \--R&T


	9. Day 9: Buried Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AweSamdude getting trapped with the egg was close enough to buried alive for me!
> 
> Bad locks Sam in a cell on the egg, he doesn't have a good time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam has a bad time
> 
> TW: mind-control, self-harm (brief and unintentional, due to mind control), derealization, disassociation, panic attack, trapped

“Uhhhh” The creeper hybrid stirred to consciousness with significant difficulty, automatically reaching a cautious hand up to the side of his head that ached and throbbed. 

For a long moment he felt disoriented, anxiously rubbing at his eyes with nothing but darkness surrounding him. 

But his eyes weren’t the problem, and that realization was almost worse. 

He reached out, desperately running his hands along the walls of his makeshift cell, smooth obsidian within arm’s length on all sides. He was sitting on something warm and musty…

Oh.

This wasn’t good at all. 

As AweSamdude shook off the effects of hitting his head, he started to regain memory of the last few events, the events that had ended up with him in this… this horrible place. He shoved himself to his feet, easily bracing himself on the walls that ascended high above to the surface, to a meeting room he was so familiar with.

Not familiar enough apparently. 

Sam leaned against the wall with a heavy sigh. 

He couldn’t believe this had happened. He couldn’t believe that Badboyhalo and Antfrost, two people he had considered friends, had tricked him and trapped him. That they threw him down a hole and just left him. 

Sam remembered the argument, pleading and fighting for them to leave Tommy out of their plans, to consider what they were doing. Bad had almost seemed convinced…

But then…

AweSamdude was falling and there was impact as his head hit the wall. The trapdoor closed behind him. He was trapped down with this egg.

_I am all_

And he was hearing its whispers again. 

The raspy voice, barely audible in the solitude of Sam’s own mind, was sickening. He knew from experience what effect the malicious intelligence behind the egg could have over longer exposure. He needed to get out. 

The creeper hybrid started meticulously pushing and scraping at the walls, first methodically, then more desperately as time started to pass. Eventually Sam sat back down on the floor, options exhausted and nursing torn fingers. 

He hated this. Being trapped like this…

Someone would come, right? Puffy was there with him when it happened, she wasn’t under the eggs influence—

_She needs to spend more time with me_

So she could come get him out. 

Sam was comforted with the knowledge that someone at least knew where he was. He let out an exhausted groan, rubbing his forehead. Honestly, he had proved to have a pretty strong tolerance to the egg’s mental effects, he was more worried about Tommy than anything.

Tommy and Tubbo, the two kids who had been forced to grow up far too early, child soldiers pulled into danger by the people who should have protected them. 

_Tommy must die_

Tommy didn’t deserve, didn’t need more things to go wrong, for more people to hunt him down for some stupid reason. Just because he happened to be unaffected by the egg, immune if you will, wasn’t a good reason to kill him. Of course it wasn’t!

He had been through enough. 

_What do you want?_

“Nothing you can give.” Sam spat the words out at the whispers in his mind, grounding himself with the sound of his own voice. Nothing felt quite real stuck in this… this makeshift tomb they had constructed for him. 

His sense of sight was gone in the pitch darkness, making everything else that much louder. Sam could hear the crackling and pops of nearby lava and a steady dripping. Sam could hear the egg.

_I have all, so much to give_

AweSamdude chose to ignore the words, instead focusing on what he would do once he was out of here. His legs cramped uncomfortably, not enough floor space to lay down, but he knew he had to stay alert. The egg would want him to sleep, to rest and open his mind more. He had to be conscious of its influence.

He had worked so hard over the past weeks to build up a modicum of trust with the two traumatized boys who had no one else to turn to. Sam built up a whole character, a playful thing that made Tommy smile, that helped him learn how to relax. He would have helped him build his hotel for free honestly, but having ‘Sam Nook’ requesting things of Tommy gave them more opportunities to interact. More chances for Sam to prove he wasn’t going to hurt him, that he cared about him. 

_Care for me_

So once he got out he would continue that. He needed to continue that.

Sam couldn’t be another adult to betray or hurt them. He couldn’t.

_The boy must die_

It was so loud in his head now, like tendrils creeping through his consciousness and trying to drag him under. 

He couldn’t let himself be controlled. He had to stay strong. For Tommy.

Sam clung to that thought, using it as a focus to keep his mind occupied, to fight off sleep and the welcoming apathy. 

_What do you want?_

_I have it all, everything is mine to give_

_I will welcome you_

Time passed. 

There was no way for Sam to know how much, the only measure he had was that he was beginning to get thirsty and hungry along with his other body aches. The mental strain was wearing on him, several times the creeper hybrid had jerked as his head dropped to his chest, sleep trying to claim him on the egg’s behalf. 

He was worn out from shouting whenever he heard a sound, pleading and begging for someone to come and release him, all pretense of dignity gone long ago.

Being trapped was starting to get to him, the four walls and the egg were all there was. They felt like they were closing in, like they were suffocating him.

Eventually it was this panic, this feeling that his cage was turning into a coffin, that ruined him.

_You’ll be here until you learn to love me_

_Everyone will love me_

_Eventually_

He needed to get out.

Sam threw himself at the walls with renewed vigor, breathing getting uneven and far too rapid as he scraped at the unyielding stone. 

“LET ME OUT!!!”

No one answered his cry for help. No one was even around to hear it, just the egg.

_Give in and I will have you released_

“No, no, no… Please!! Anyone, HELP ME!!!”

AweSamdude’s breathing got worse and worse until his head was spinning. He was stuck, he felt like he couldn’t move, the walls were all around him, trapping him, and there was just that voice. That rasping horrible voice inside his own head that promised and threatened in equal measure.

“Please… anyone…” Sam collapsed into broken sobs, breathing so fast he couldn’t get enough air, panic overtaking everything. 

_You could never get out_

The voice, the fear, sounded like him. He might never get out.

He would be trapped, here, stuck—

Sam was released from consciousness by his own panic, and elsewhere Bad smiled.

* * *

He was floating.

There was nothing but red on all sides, enveloping him, warm and strangely comforting…

_Welcome_

The voice was everywhere, but AweSamdude didn’t feel repulsed by it as much anymore. He felt freer.

“Hello.”

_You have joined what we are, what we always have been._

“I suppose so…” This was fine, safe even. Nothing could hurt him here.

_What can I give you? Name your desire._

“I just want…” This sent a shiver down Sam’s spine, despite the warmth… He pressed on. “I just want the people I care about to be safe.”

_That’s easy, everyone is safe with me, once they learn to love me._

There was a long time during which Sam was content with that answer, with the promise of peace and safety. He couldn’t have pinpointed exactly when something changed, but it started to feel suffocating in the space, bitterness on his tongue and a strange pull on his very will as it bent to the egg.

_For me, you must help the others spread the vines._

_Fight all those who stand against._

_Love me, protect me_

That made sense, Sam was ready to do so, he could sense Bad moving towards him, connected by the egg’s influence. Bad would let him out and they would protect the egg. Hunt down the threats, like Puffy and Tom—

“Tommy?” The word was hissed out through his teeth, something like physical pain shot through his mind as he pulled away from the warmth the egg promised. 

_Kill the boy. Tommy must die._

No. Every ounce of willpower, every bit of Sam that was still clinging to his own agency protested. Not Tommy, he didn’t deserve it, he needed to be protected, he had promised to protect him.

_Tommy must die. Stop your struggle against it._

“No. I won’t, you can’t make me.” Sam snarled, gunpowder fizzling in his chest. The egg stirred. Suddenly the warmth wasn’t comforting, it was burning and fierce, painful to the senses. He felt Bad turn away. 

_I am all. I control all._

“I won’t let you control me.” The heat was overwhelming, Sam’s throat ached with dryness, his head pounded with dehydration. His arms felt burnt, like a degree hotter and he would combust. The egg laughed.

_You’re thirsty, drink._

Sam didn’t move, but yet his mouth found liquid, warm and metallic as it dripped down his throat. The egg moved and Sam moved and it was only belatedly that he felt pain in his arm. The egg released the overt control a moment later, letting him pull his arm from his face and futilely spit in an attempt to clear the iron taste of his own blood from his mouth. 

He gagged and coughed, clutching his other hand to his torn arm, wincing as he pressed against the bleeding. He was back in the cell. He had never left. 

_I control all._

Sam felt pain. He felt overwhelmed. He felt hopeless….

He heard the unmistakable impact of netherite coated tools against obsidian. 

“Sam? Sam can you hear me? Hang in there buddy!”

The voice was familiar, so familiar. Puffy…

“Hey Sam! It’s me, your best friend!” And Tommy. 

Light burst into the cell suddenly, red and glowing and for a moment Sam was sure he was back in his mind, in the egg. But then there were hands, gently pulling him out, supporting him.

“Come on Sam, are you okay?” Sam could only groan in response, helplessly weak. 

“Let’s get you home.” 

Sam was out of the egg room and into sunlight, free from where he had been buried beneath the surface with little hope of rescue. But they had come. They had come and they were taking him home.

He even managed a smile when he recognized Tommy fussing over him, hiding his concern with humor, but obviously caring in his own way. There was trust there, and it made Sam so happy to see it. 

They got back to his house as quickly as they could, and Sam was soon settled into bed as the other two hurried about, preparing medical supplies and food. He felt relaxed and safe.

He almost didn’t notice the spot of red, planted casually in the corner of the room, like it belonged there.

_I will control you_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you Sam had a bad time.   
> But hey, he's out of there now.....
> 
> I've got a few more ideas for prompt responses based on eggpire plot, so stay tuned.   
> Thank you for reading!  
> \--R&T


	10. Day 10: "I'm sorry, I didn't know"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone hates Dream after learning about everything he's done, and what he intended to do.  
> It's certainly justified, but...  
> They don't know his mother is around hearing every word.  
> Puffy angst...
> 
> Captain Puffy, AweSamdude, Dream, Punz, others mentioned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually really excited to share this one. I've got feelings...
> 
> TW: anxiety, guilt, grief

“Can you believe the horrible things he was doing?”

“What kind of monster would do that?”

“Honestly, dude’s messed up, I’m a bit disappointed Tommy didn’t finish him.”

“That damn prison is better than he deserves.”

She heard it all.

Everywhere she went, no matter who she was with, the conversation inevitably turned to the topic of Dream. 

The verdict was unanimous. 

“Fucking asshole, I hope he rots forever.”

“We should have known a long time ago, I wonder if he ever cared?”

“Villain”

“Tyrant”

It was overwhelming.

It hurt to hear and it hurt to stay silent. 

Captain Puffy retreated away from people as often as she could, but she was part of the community, she couldn’t just vanish. 

As much as she wanted to.

And it wasn’t like she could argue. She wouldn’t have protested if she could. 

After all, it was Puffy that wrapped Tubbo’s neck in bandages, carefully applying potions to close the thin line across it, only a bit of pressure away from killing the boy before they arrived. 

It was Puffy that Sam came to after a long day at the prison, after Dream started ranting about what he did to Tommy in exile, when the warden couldn’t handle the knowledge alone. 

“He’s sick! He tortured him!”

“Demon”

“Devil”

“Bastard”

Puffy was sure that it would die down soon, that their ire would be extinguished and she would have a break from hearing about how terrible of a person Dream was.

How inhumane and lost her Duckling was.

How horrible her son was.

_Follow, follow, follow me_

_We will find a better place to be_

_With me ahead and you behind, the world will always for you provide_

_Duckling follow, ducking stay_

_Let me sing you into a new day_

Where was the child she sang that song to? 

The blond boy she coaxed out from behind crates and barrels at the port, who followed her wordlessly for days before he dared to speak. 

The boy who jumped to defend her and assist her at every turn. Who would tote boxes to the storage area at a moment’s notice if she so much as glanced at them.

_Horizons onward, unto dawn_

_We don’t falter, we don’t die young_

_The seas are rough and time is short_

_But the sun with rise with a brand-new note_

_Looking forward, looking long_

_Greet the future as it comes_

Where was the loyal teenager who flew through the rigging like he had been born for it?

Where was the cheerful boy with a competitive spirit that got in championship fights at every port they visited, only to hand over all the earnings and keep only the trophy, proud to be contributing to the ship. 

The boy that ran up to her dragging along a dark-haired friend a few years younger, bleeding and bruised, and told her on no uncertain terms that he was coming with them. Sapnap wasn’t her son, but he was always Dream’s brother. 

_But winds will blow, and stars will fall_

_We can sail and sway through it all_

_And when the time comes, when the sea rejects its own_

_There will always be a port you can call home_

Where was the young man that decided to build something in a seemingly random patch of wilderness?

Who made friends into family, who gathered them together and made something out of nothing. 

The young man that Puffy would visit from time to time on her journeys, always impressed with what he had created. Eventually the port at his city became her home. 

But Puffy was heartbroken to see that that man was gone.

That child

That boy

That man

He looked to her eyes like a stranger. 

So when Sam stopped her in the street, inviting her to join the conversation, which invariably turned to a heated debate of whether Dream, whether her son, deserved to die for his crimes…

Puffy broke. 

“Can we stop talking about Dream for one minute?!” She spat the words with anger, not directed at Sam or Punz, but directed inwardly. They couldn’t know that though, all they saw was the glint in her eyes as she straightened, fiercely glaring daggers. 

“What do you mean Puffy?” Sam sounded confused, tilting his head cautiously. Punz scowled.

“Yeah, I mean, sure we talk about it a lot, but he’s kinda a big deal. The dude is a murderer, an absolute monster, how could we not talk about him?” Punz had led the way into the secret room. Punz had seen first hand how close Dream had been to killing an innocent boy in front of his best friend. Puffy knew his anger was justified, but she couldn’t handle it anymore.

Puffy turned and fled, running blindly into the woods, off the path, wanting to get anywhere that wouldn’t remind her of the boy she considered her son. The man everyone else saw only as a vile creature. 

The man she had failed.

Puffy ran until her legs wouldn’t support her any longer and she let herself fall, collapsing to her knees and burying her head in her arms. She shook as she wept, shoulders heaving with every sob. 

Then she lifted her head and her tears intensified.

She looked upon the place her son was being held and cried out to an unforgiving sky. 

“I’m sorry Duckling, I’m so sorry…” Her random flight had led her to the field that surrounded the edge of the prison and Puffy trembled as he looked upon it.

“I’m sorry son, I failed you, I didn’t lead you well enough… Oh Dream, I should have been here more, I should have known…”

He words became incoherent as she wailed, finally released all the feelings she felt so guilty for even acknowledging. Guilt for feeling grief for Dream after everything he’d done. Guilt for still hoping… still wanting her son back…

“Oh Puffy.” 

She jolted as a hand gently rested on her shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze. Sam knelt alongside her, cautiously rubbing circles on her back, quelling her sobs with the comfort. 

Puffy finally took a deep breath, recovered enough to wipe her tears and look over to her friend. Before she could speak, before she could apologize, Sam interrupted.

“Puffy, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” 

Puffy was so caught off guard, so surprised, that she just let her mouth hang open for a moment trying to formulate a response. 

“What?” Okay, so, it might not have been the best response…

“If I had known that he was your son… Puffy I can’t imagine how hard this all must be for you. I’m so sorry for inadvertently making things worse.” Sam’s face was masked as ever, but she knew him well. His tone was warm and sincere. 

Tears sprang to Puffy’s eyes again. 

“It’s so hard Sam. Hearing everything people are saying all the time…”

Puffy sniffled, having to fight to keep from breaking down once again. 

Sam hummed in understanding. 

“Puffy, if there is anything I can do to help, anything at all, just say the word.” Sam gave her hand a familial squeeze. “I’m here for you.” 

Now Puffy was crying again, though for a very different reason. She wasn’t sure what would help… but…

“Can I tell you about him? Just talk about Dream, about when he was younger…” No one would want to hear it. Puffy needed to mourn, but not alone. She was worried about Sam’s response—

“Of course.” She shouldn’t have been worried.

Sam settled down more comfortably alongside her, encouraging Puffy to do the same. 

It took her a few minutes to gather her thoughts, but Sam waited patiently. Eventually she drew a deep breath.

“I first met him when he was just a kid, you would not believe the way he followed me around. I called him my little Duckling for a while….

….

Puffy talked about Dream for hours, Sam always there listening, ready to comfort her when she cried. 

Nothing was fixed. But healing…

Healing seemed less impossible than it had before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think?!?  
> Those verses of that "song" were entirely written by me. I hope you liked them and could hear them to a tune in your head. 
> 
> Emotional hurt, hurts  
> Thank you for reading! As always, I love hearing reactions and responses in the comments!  
> \--R&T


	11. Day 11: Hallucinations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The egg made Tubbo cry  
> It showed him dead families
> 
> Tubbo, Tommy, The Egg, Ranboo, others mentioned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to Egg angst...
> 
> TW: hanging, panic attack, hallucinations, anxiety, referenced abuse and manipulation

“What did the egg say to you anyway?”

Tubbo laughed off the question, dodging around Ranboo as the hybrid rolled his eyes in annoyance. 

“No really, I don’t hear anything from it, so what did it say to you?” Tubbo paused, forcing himself to not think about it to much. He tried to keep his answer as lighthearted as possible…

“It just showed me so many dead families.” Okay, so maybe not lighthearted, but at least it was cryptic enough to halt Ranboo’s questioning. 

It didn’t stop Tubbo’s mind from drifting, however much he wanted to stay in the moment. However much he didn’t want to remember the stifling heat and horrible smell of iron and blood—

* * *

“If you want, you could take off your suit, but then you’d know how you feel about the egg.” Tubbo laughed as Tommy led him down to the egg chamber. Despite the eerie nature of the twisting red vines, Tubbo wasn’t really concerned. After everything he and Tommy had been through over the past few days…

A weird egg-plant thing wasn’t that unusual. 

It was a far cry from standing with an axe to your throat while your best friend bargained desperately for your life with a lunatic in a mask. It was a lot less serious than saying your last goodbyes, trying to keep steady and calm while you knew your death was coming. 

All and all, Tubbo was feeling pretty optimistic about this egg situation. 

“It might be dangerous though, from what I know you’ll either love the egg or hate it but—”

“Boop!” Tubbo cheerfully pulled off the mask he was wearing and tossed it at Tommy. 

The air in the cave was oddly musty and damp, it was also uncomfortably warm, the floor had pools of water that bubbled and popped dramatically. The red vines squelched beneath his feet…

The egg hummed.

_Come_

Tubbo laid a hand against the dimpled surface of the egg without thinking. It was damp… He didn’t remember walking over to it, but he must have—

_You poor little thing…_

That was interesting… Tubbo opened his mouth to tell Tommy what was happening, but he couldn’t seem to force the words. The voice was raspy and gravely, but somehow comforting in a way Tubbo didn’t understand. Tubbo’s vision tunneled…

_Oh, you useless pawn_

The brunette recoiled viscerally but couldn’t bring himself to pull his hand away and break contact.

_I don’t think you’re going to be of value… though…_

_What do you want more than anything?_

Tubbo actually snarled. This stupid egg sounded just like Dream and Schlatt and and Wilbur and everyone else who tried to use them. To manipulate him and Tommy for their own gain. Tubbo was done with that. 

“I want nothing from you, you stupid future omelet!” 

Tubbo backed away. 

_I know what you want_

“I don’t care!” 

The brunette turned to find Tommy and the exit. The world blurred a little, the vines hanging from the ceiling and curling around the floor made everything indistinct…

_You want certainty of safety, for yourself and those you care about_

Ranboo was standing amongst the vines. He tilted his head, eyes glowing in the dim ambiance of the room. Tubbo reached out for him—

_You can’t protect anyone_

He couldn’t get to him! The vines coiled and whirled and Ranboo screamed in pain as they wrapped around his chest and tightened. Tubbo watched his friend’s face sizzle as his eyes dripped tears onto his skin. The scream was abruptly cut off when a vine found his throat and encircled it in a deadly grip. 

“Ranboo!! Ranboo no!” Tubbo yelled desperately but he couldn’t move, he tried to draw a sword or anything, but he couldn’t—

Ranboo was yanked upward and dangled from the ceiling, he thrashed fiercely before going still. 

_I can make you strong, strong enough to protect everyone_

Tubbo could only see red.

“NO! Screw you! You killed him, why would you kill him?!” Tubbo stared up into the hanging vines, trying to spot where Ranboo dangled hopelessly…

_You’re really failing everyone…_

_Join me and that can change_

“Just stop it!” Tubbo tried to find the egg, desperate to tear it apart, with his bare hands if necessary. But when he turned around the egg wasn’t there. There were just more vines and—

Two figures emerged. For the first time in a long while Tubbo felt a rush of relief at seeing Philza and Technoblade. Even if the two of them had… well…

Killed him and destroyed the things he cared about. 

Still! They would want to help destroy the egg. Surely they would help. 

Tubbo didn’t have a chance to call out before the scent of blood hung heavy in the air. Philza was torn apart in an instant, the vines tearing and grabbing and spraying his blood everywhere. Techno spun, face clearly visible for a single moment, pure devastation covering his expression. He opened his mouth in a furious scream that Tubbo couldn’t hear. Then the vines got him too. Technoblade fought against them, but was inevitably overcome. Tubbo watched him be pulled back out of view into the jungle of red.

_Wouldn’t you like to prevent this?_

Tubbo felt tears pouring down his face, more distinct and real than anything else he’d experienced since coming to this horrible cavern. 

“Stop!!” Tubbo sobbed, desperately casting about for help, for Tommy. Where was Tommy? Where was Tommy, he couldn’t let Tommy—

The blond stood in front of him, still and calm. Tubbo tried to rush to him, but the vines seemed to tangle around his ankles. Instead Tubbo reached out a hand, just wanting safety and reassurance. 

Tommy spoke.

_The discs are worth more than you ever were_

Tubbo wailed as a bundle of vines burst bloodily through his best friend’s chest, blue eyes glazing over as the life left his body. Tubbo sobbed and scrabbled backwards, moving away from what he was seeing, from Tommy’s corpse where it was held upright only by the vines tangled around it. 

Heat grew painful on his back, but still he twisted away, trying to get away from—

“Tubbo?”

What? What was that voice?

“Tubbo no! Not the lava, not the lava!” 

Tubbo felt hands grasp his arms and pull him away from the heat, he grabbed them like a lifeline. He crumpled to the ground when they pulled away, sobbing into his knees. Everyone was dead, he had failed again—

“Tubbo, Tubbo are you alright?” The voice was Tommy’s, but Tubbo had just seen Tommy die in front of him. How could it be Tommy? Tubbo forced himself to raise his head, face wet with tears as he sniffled. 

Tommy stood over him, whole and alive. 

“What?” Tubbo gasped out the question, trying to understand.

“I don’t know! You stood in front of the egg for a while then started crying and shit, then you almost fucking fell into lava!!” 

Tubbo stared at the egg, vision blurry. It wasn’t real, it wasn’t real. It felt so real…

He couldn’t stop seeing the images, he could barely stand when Tommy dragged him to his feet, urgently trying to get him to run with him or something…

“Uh…” Tommy stuttered, Tubbo tilted his head up to see the two figures standing atop the egg itself. “Guys… the egg made Tubbo cry…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Tubbo.....  
> I almost didn't get this one done in time, despite having future days written, this one was hard to get finished.  
> But here it is! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it, thank you for reading!!  
> <3  
> \--R&T


	12. Day 12: "Who are you?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy is corrupted by the egg.  
> Badboyhalo will do anything to get his best friend back.
> 
> Badboyhalo, Skeppy, Antfrost, Captain Puffy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Egg story!!!  
> Reminder that everything is platonic and based on the characters of the Dream smp storyline
> 
> TW: self-sacrifice, mind control, hearing voices

Badboyhalo watched as Skeppy piled obsidian around the egg, creating a messy covering. 

He was glad Skeppy finally stopped being angry about the egg! It was really unpleasant when the egg was telling him to defend it against his best friend, Bad hadn’t liked that at all. But now, Skeppy wanted to spend time with it!

Soon he would learn the egg was good and would love it as much as Bad did, the demon hybrid was sure of it. The egg itself whispered reassurances, flooding his mind with happiness and relief. Skeppy would spend some time down here, then he would understand. 

_He will know I am all_

Yes! 

Bad was a little perplexed when Skeppy was almost finished though, it didn’t look like he was going to sit next to the egg at all actually. The egg agreed.

_With me, do not let him close us off_

Bad approached cheerfully, this was certainly just a misunderstanding.

“Skeppy? I thought you were building this to protect the egg, but how are you going to spend time with it if you’re out here?” Skeppy’s eyes widened, Bad wondered why he looked so nervous. His friend ran a hand through his crystalline-blue hair, cautiously stepping back towards the egg, to the interior of the barrier.

_Good._

“I’ll come too!” Bad happily tried to push himself next to Skeppy, but his friend shoved him back, blocking his way with another piece of black stone. 

“No!” Bad tilted his head… Skeppy was acting weird… “Stay out there Bad, I want some alone time with the egg, okay?” 

Bad wasn’t given much of a chance to argue, Skeppy immediately started placing obsidian again, sealing up the last remaining gap.

_Wait, we must be—_

The egg’s voice was abruptly cut off. It was strange to be without it, but not unpleasant. Bad paced around cheerfully, almost absent without the external guidance he had grown so reliant upon. Eventually he just left, deciding to go back to his house for the night since he had nothing better to do. 

It was only in the morning, after a night of sleep, and when Skeppy was noticeably absent from their shared home, that Bad’s mind started to truly clear.

The egg… It had been doing something, it had been making them love it! And Skeppy was—

The horned hybrid rushed to the room underground with focused intent. 

He looked up as several pairs of footsteps stumbled into the room after him.

“Bad! What happened?” The tall demon hybrid turned, suddenly noticing how oddly the vines had grown around the room, why had he found them so comforting before? They looked like snarling roots with wicked thorns, leeching into the stone around them and strangling everything in their path. Puffy stopped in front of him, staring wide eyed at the obsidian layer that covered the egg.

“I can’t… I can’t feel the egg anymore.” Antfrost spoke up, cautiously digging the tip of his trident into a nearby vine… “Does that bother you?” 

It would have, Bad remembered being so concerned and upset when anyone so much as threatened to harm the egg or its vines, but now…

“No, no it’s like the egg… its influence is gone.” The three of them stared at each other with wide eyes. 

“Oh god…” Puffy shuddered as she reached the same realization. 

Antfrost’s fur puffed up dramatically.

It had been controlling them. It had been making them fight their friends, it made him threaten Skeppy of all people! His best friend in the world—

“Skeppy!!” Badboyhalo rushed to the obsidian barrier, hesitantly reaching out a hand to knock on it. “Skeppy are you still in there?” 

Bad’s eyes involuntarily flooded with tears. If Skeppy had been in there all night—

“Skeppy say something!!” Bad shouted fiercely at the egg, almost hoping Skeppy had left, just gone somewhere else. A light tapping from the interior caught his attention. His best friend, his platonic soulmate, was trapped in with a mind-controlling egg. 

Bad pulled out a pickaxe and started chipping away at the obsidian without hesitation.

“Bad no!! Stop!” Antfrost grabbed his arm, physically pulling him away from his goal.

“I need to get Skeppy!! I need to get him out of there, he’s been there all night!” Antfrost and Puffy mirrored a look of confusion. 

“What do you mean, Bad?” Puffy’s ears twitched as she tilted her head. 

“He covered the egg last night, to try to… he knew we weren’t ourselves. But I wouldn’t—” Bad’s breath hitched. “I wouldn’t let him just leave it, he agreed to spend some time with it and I was still… oh Skeppy—”

Badboyhalo broke down as the other two exchanged concerned glances. 

“Okay, well, we have to be smart about this.” Puffy gently reached out and patted his shoulder. “I’ll get some obsidian and we’ll make like, an airlock.” 

Antfrost nodded eagerly. “I’ll go get masks, maybe that can help protect us too!” 

Bad forced himself to steady as his friends rushed to make the preparations. He leaned heavily against the obsidian, pressing his forehead to it as he spoke.

“Hang in there Skeppy, we’ll get you out soon.”

* * *

Bad took a deep breath before firmly fitting his mask across his face. 

The airlock was ready and the other two stood outside it, waiting for his signal to open the outer layer. Badboyhalo hefted his pickaxe and started removing the obsidian in front of him. It was tiring work, but Bad was too worked up to really care. He never slowed, mind fixed on his best friend stuck with those vines and that terrible egg—

Why hadn’t Skeppy just left? The question haunted him, made him fearful for what he would find once he broke through. 

“Skeppy?” Bad called out once he had a wide enough gap to climb through. The interior of the obsidian layer was, frankly, alarming. Vines appeared to have sprouted from the surface of the egg in force, seemingly overnight, and were filling all the available space within the stone shell. The vines pushed against the obsidian layers, Bad could already see tiny cracks forming as the vines wormed their way into tiny imperfections in the wall. 

The egg was breaking itself out. 

But where was Skeppy?

“Skeppy!! Answer me you muffin!” Bad started hacking away at the vines in front of him, only wincing a little when muted whispers filled his ears. The mask wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was doing its job for the moment. 

“Skep—” Bad jumped as a figure seemed to appear in front of him, stepping out of the vines effortlessly. For a moment he was confused, but how could he not recognize his best friend, even changed as he was. Skeppy’s previously blue hair was completely red, patches of skin saturated with the same overwhelming color that surrounded them. Bad reached out and grabbed his arms. 

“Skeppy! Are you alright!” Bad tried to pull his friend into a hug, but was thwarted when Skeppy yanked away. 

Bad saw Skeppy’s eyes for the first time. Bright blue eyes, always filled with life and energy, were blood red and dull. Skeppy tilted his head and let it loll to the side, blankly staring.

“Who are you?” 

Skeppy’s voice was monotone and lifeless, a shadow of his former self. Bad recoiled as if physically struck.

“It’s me, Badboyhalo, your best friend! Don’t you remember me?” 

Skeppy shrugged. 

“I don’t know, maybe.” 

Bad forced himself to stay steady. It was okay, Skeppy didn’t remember him right now, but they were best friends, and once he was away from the egg it would all be okay. 

_Join … you… desire…_

The demon hybrid ignored the whispers, instead grabbing Skeppy’s arm and starting to pull him out into the airlock, all the while giving animated reassurances. Skeppy let himself be dragged along passively. 

Bad replaced the obsidian between them and the egg, ignoring Skeppy’s half-hearted protests, and gave the two waiting outside the signal. Immediately the obsidian behind them was lifted and they stepped out together into the vine-filled cavern. 

Antfrost and Puffy gasped in unison. Bad shot them a meaningful glare. 

“Come on Skeppy, let’s go up to the surface, we can see the sky!” Bad filled his voice with as much good cheer as he could muster. Skeppy looked longingly back at the egg. “Don’t you like the sky?”

“I don’t… I don’t have feelings about the sky.” 

Bad ignored his empty tone, instead herding him along towards the stairway. 

It would be fine! He would get Skeppy away from the egg and it would be fine! 

* * *

It wasn’t fine. 

Bad had spent the better part of a week trying to evoke any emotion in Skeppy, any interest or excitement about anything, any trace that his best friend was still in there somewhere. 

It was beginning to feel hopeless. Every moment Bad wasn’t actively interacting with him, Skeppy would try to return to the egg room. Bad had paraded him through all his favorite places, given him all his favorite things, nothing had an effect. All Skeppy wanted to do was go back down and be with the egg. Bad tried to physically restrain him, pulling him into a hug, sobbing into his red hair. Skeppy just stood stiffly, unemotional as ever. Eventually Bad let him go.

They had tried everything.

Bad followed him down to the egg room. He put his mask on of course, but he couldn’t just let Skeppy be alone. Even if Skeppy didn’t remember that they were best friends, Bad remembered, he would remember for both of them until he got Skeppy back. He had to get Skeppy back.

He didn’t know how he could live without his best friend. 

The obsidian had formed visible cracks on the exterior and was becoming as red-tinted as everything else in the room. Skeppy walked over and sat on the ground, leaning his back against it and giving a relieved sigh. Bad was about to sit next to him, then he hesitated, a flare of angry heat growing in his chest. 

“Give him back!!” Badboyhalo snarled at the egg, slamming a hand against the nearest vine—

“Don’t do that.” Skeppy shoved him away, eyes not even bothering to meet his face. “It doesn’t like that.” 

“Skeppy, please!” Bad didn’t know what he was begging for, but Skeppy ignored his pleas, returning to his place by the egg. 

Bad slowly crossed the room to sit next to him. After a moment he took his friend's hand in his, grateful when Skeppy didn’t pull away. Skeppy moved his mouth in indecipherable whispers, doubtlessly conversing with the egg. 

“Are you there Skeppy, are you in there somewhere?” Bad looked into Skeppy’s face searchingly, there was no spark of recognition. 

For a long time Bad just sat next to the shell of his best friend and cried. 

_You want… back…_

Bad ignored how the egg whispered. He could hear its voice now, but the influence was still seeming to be blocked by the mask. It wasn’t controlling him... but what he wanted was obvious.

_You miss him…_

After a few minutes Bad responded without thinking.

“Of course, I can’t imagine life without—without—” He couldn’t finish the sentence without breaking into another round of broken sobbing. Skeppy ignored him.

_You can be with him_

“Then give him back!!” Bad choked out the words, sniffling heavily. The egg hummed.

_I will never let him go_

_He is with me, with us_

_But you can be with him_

“I don’t want to be controlled again.” Bad’s voice was rough from crying. The egg practically purred.

_Your choice_

“I just—I just want my Skeppy back.”

_You can_

_Your choice_

_You can be with him_

Bad would have liked to think that there was a choice. 

But he knew he had intended to do whatever it took to get Skeppy back from the moment he returned to the underground chamber.

A life without his best friend didn’t seem like much of a life at all. He hoped the others would understand. He hoped he wouldn’t be forced to hurt them. 

Bad reached up and grasped the edges of his mask, hesitating for a moment, staring at Skeppy’s face. He wanted to be with Skeppy. He would make this decision, whatever the cost. It was selfish, but he didn’t care. 

Bad pulled the mask off and set it to the side.

_Good choice_

Bad took a deep breath, settling back against the warm comfort the egg provided. He leaned his head on Skeppy’s shoulder, gently taking his friend’s hand in his once again. 

“I won’t let you be alone Skeppy, I’m here.” 

“I’m here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Character Badboyhalo's cannon motivations for returning to the eggs control.... I think it really fits the character and storyline.  
> So of course I had to write about it.
> 
> They're best friends your honor.  
> Thank you for reading!! I love reading comments if you want to leave one <33  
> \--R&T


	13. Day 13: Hiding Injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Tubbo exiled Tommy the rest of his government turned against him.  
> When he finds himself injured, he can hardly go to them for help.
> 
> Tubbo, Technoblade, Fundy, Quackity, Tommy mentioned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo has horns in this one!  
> Uhhh he doesn't understand how they work though.
> 
> TW: referenced past self-harm (mostly unintentional, Tubbo thought horns were like fingernails, they are not), but be safe, anxiety, panic attack, manipulation and verbal abuse, guilt, self-hatred

Tubbo’s head ached… he couldn’t even focus as his cabinet droned on about defenses and protection, all he could think about was the pain in his skull that throbbed without respite. 

“Okay, well, that does it for today I think.” Quackity started wrapping up and Tubbo let out a relieved sigh—“Especially since our president is taking so little interest in proceedings.” 

The teenager jolted, forcing himself to sit upright and become more alert. Everyone was staring at him, judgement and disapproval in their eyes. Tubbo forced himself not to shrink under the scrutiny. Quackity especially looked angry, dark eyes alight with emotion.

“You’re paying so little attention you might as well attend the meetings drunk!” The not-so-subtle comparison hit deep, forcing Tubbo to fight back tears. 

“I’m listening.” Tubbo tried to protest his position, but no one looked remotely sympathetic. Fundy was next to have a go at him, the verbal attack an unfortunately common part of their proceedings since Tubbo had agreed to have Tommy exiled. 

“Oh, you’re going to listen to us for once then? Not just do what you want? What a huge change, round of applause for our great emperor, oh sorry, president.” Fundy’s words ended in a sneer and sarcastic clapping that only increased the pain in Tubbo’s head. This was going to be a terrible migraine, he just knew it. 

“I know you’re all just comparing me to Schlatt again, okay? Just give it a rest, please. We’ve already talked a lot about what happened and—”

“He says to give it a rest? Really?! You know what we all went through under that asshole’s rule, yet here you are, the same in all but name.” Quackity moved around the table and Tubbo couldn’t help but flinch, tucking himself downward, apologies on his lips. “Since your horns started growing in, you even look like him!” 

Tubbo reached up reflexively, tugging down the beanie that covered his horns, hands running over the keratin structures that curved back slightly from above his temples, anchored to the skull beneath. They weren’t like Schlatts. But they were close enough for the angry faces that surrounded him. Tubbo’s horns had been hidden under his hair for years, never big enough to show, but horns grow and Tubbo’s were no exceptions. Only a few months ago were they finally noticeable, and it had only gotten worse since then. 

Tubbo hated them, hated that they made him more like Schlatt, and hated how people looked at him for the passing resemblance. 

His attempts to rid himself of them were the cause of his current pain, in fact-- he felt a trickle of wetness under his hairline… It had probably started bleeding again—

“I’m leaving.” Tubbo’s rush to stand sent his chair clattering to the floor, but he ignored it, hurrying out of the room. His head swam with sudden dizziness, but he pushed onward, he just wanted to get away from everyone. He just—

Tubbo almost fell off the end of the dock, slipping on a wet board and just managing to catch himself in time. He ended up sprawled on his side, damp wood pressing into his cheek. 

“Shit.” Tubbo groaned as he sat upright, waiting for his dizzied vision to restore. He reached up and prodded at his head cautiously—

“Double shit.” Warm blood trickled down the side of his face, forming drips on his chin. Carefully he removed the hat, making sure no one was around to see before he did. The water was still enough for Tubbo to see his reflection when he peered off the edge… and it wasn’t pretty.

The rag Tubbo had tied around his half-bisected horn was soaked in blood, obviously the bleeding had never really stopped. The pain only grew worse as he untied it, forcing him to take several gasping breaths. He had gotten decently far before he passed out from the unexpected pain… the horn was cut about thirty percent of the way through, though he hadn’t managed to get any further since that frenzied moment almost a week ago when, filled with rage and self-hatred, he had taken a saw to the offending structure. 

But the pain only got worse as time went on… Tubbo’s whole head felt like it was on fire with white-hot agony at every movement. He honestly didn’t know how he had managed to hide it for this long. Tubbo held out a hand, watching blood drip into his palm… 

He broke into sobs, huge forceful gasps racking his body as he shook on the pier, no longer concerned with being quiet. Tubbo’s head flared in pain with every movement, his vision was fading in and out…

“Hullo?” 

Tubbo shot to his feet, adrenaline flooding his body with eagerness to just get away, to escape and—

His legs didn’t support him, his head felt fuzzy…

He was falling…

Everything faded away.

* * *

Tubbo regained consciousness slowly… first he was just aware of cold and warmth, vying over his body for control. Then there was pain, a steadily growing ache in his head that reminded him of what had happened. It wasn’t as severe as it had been before but…

Tubbo carefully fluttered his eyes open, careful not to shift his head. He was somewhere… dark, but not uninviting. A small cavern and warm fire faced him, gentle heat caressing his face. But how…

“Uh, hullo again…” Tubbo jerked, scrambling backwards desperately, flailing wildly at the blankets wrapped around him. His dark blue eyes were wide, trying to focus on the figure sitting on the floor next to him. “Oh, come on, if I was going to kill you I could have done so when you passed out.” Techno weakly attempted to be comforting. 

“You have!” Tubbo spat back at him, quickly realizing he was not going to be able to stand up and escape, even the small movements he had managed made his head pound. Still he clenched his fists, remembering a festival and fireworks. He realized that he was shivering, cold despite the blankets covering him and the nearby fire. 

“Yeah… well… that was different, I wasn’t just going to let you drown.” Techno wrung out his long pink hair, water dripping onto the wooden floor. Tubbo opened his mouth to respond, but a searing jolt of pure agony shot through his skull.

Tubbo dropped his hands into his hands, doubling over and hearing a distant sob of pain. He pushed on his forehead with the palms of his hands, hoping the pressure could provide any relief. He finally managed to weakly catch his breath.

“Where am I?”

“One of my many hidden bases.” Technoblade sounded proud. Tubbo mostly felt confused.

“Why?”

“I told you, I wasn’t just going to let you die.” 

“No—why..” Tubbo let out another gasp, the room felt like it was spinning. “Why didn’t you just leave me there, why am I here?”

Techno took several long seconds to respond, Tubbo glanced up to see the conflicted look on his face, the warrior looking uncharacteristically concerned.

“Well, you needed medical attention… and I figured if you were out on that pier alone slowly bleeding out, you probably weren’t going to get it there.” Tubbo scowled and tried to respond, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. 

He slumped back to the floor in a shivering heap, unable to keep his head lifted for any longer. He flinched a little when Technoblade walked around to kneel by his head, but ultimately resigned himself. He was too weak to protest, and Techno was right, if he wanted him dead, he would already be dead. 

“How long ago did this happen?” Tubbo felt a piece of cloth unwinding from around his injured horn, air hitting the exposed nerves almost made him pass out on the spot. He whimpered in pain, unable to even pull his head away as Techno fussed with the injury.

“Almost a week…” Tubbo whispered the words, hearing Techno hiss between his teeth. 

“So.” Techno moved to crouch in front of him, making sure he was alert enough to respond. “It’s infected. I’ve got to remove the rest of that horn or else I won’t be able to treat it. I don’t know how much blood you’ve lost over the last few days, but I’ve got lots of potions stashed so it should be fine.” 

Tubbo tried to mumble a response, but was in too much pain to find the words. He felt himself be lifted upright and willingly drank the potion that was pressed to his lips. 

“Can you take off both of them?” Tubbo muttered the words deliriously, almost hoping Techno would agree. The piglin hybrid went stiff, Tubbo felt a hand brush his hair off his forehead gently.

“No, I’m not going to do that.” 

Tubbo sighed, relaxing as the potion took effect. 

He drifted off slowly, sliding into a blessed numbness, still wondering why Technoblade was helping him.

* * *

Tubbo woke up surprisingly gently, eyelids so heavy he considered just letting himself go back to sleep. 

But even half-awake he could tell he wasn’t in his home, and even though he felt safe, he couldn’t quite remember why. Slowly he blinked his eyes, trying to reconcile the warm pile of blankets he was wrapped in with his last memories. 

When he lifted himself upright he immediately noticed something alarming. His hands shot to the top of his head, gingerly poking at the bandages there… His head felt uneven, almost unbalanced…

Oh. Yeah. 

One of his horns was gone, and though the area stung, it was a far cry from the throbbing pain he had been in before. Tubbo looked around the room, and jumped when he realized Technoblade was sitting only a couple feet away, sharpening his sword with practiced ease. The warrior lifted his head to meet Tubbo’s gaze, russet eyes framed by exhausted circles. 

“Uh… thank you.” Tubbo spoke up hesitantly, not really sure how to proceed when the person who destroyed your country, and intends to do it again, saves your life on a whim. 

“Sure.” Techno grunted, suddenly reaching a hand out. Tubbo jerked back, eyes wide with remembered pain and fear. The piglin hybrid froze, before sighing and dropping his arm back to his side. “I want to check it before you go.” 

Tubbo nodded and cautiously dropped his head, only hissing a little when Techno bumped the injury in his examination. His breathing sped up though with the reality of what would face him upon his return. 

“How long was I asleep?” 

“You’ve been here for almost two days, your fever broke a few hours ago.” 

Great. Just great. He disappeared without explanation, for days. No one would understand, even if he told them why… how could he explain fraternizing with Technoblade of all people? They would never accept that, they were going to be so angry and—

Tubbo realized belatedly that he was crying, silent tears streaking down his cheeks. His breath hitched, and Techno seemed to take notice of his distress, withdrawing his hands and freezing. 

“Uh… does it hurt?” Tubbo snorted, something was absolutely amusing about Techno thinking he was in pain rather than just upset. 

“No, it’s much better, thank you.” Tubbo wiped his eyes and forced away his feelings, like the young president had gotten so used to doing. With some stumbling he managed to stand, casting about absently for the door. “Thank you for your help.” 

Technoblade looked back at him, blank expression unreadable. Tubbo had just gotten to the exit when he was stopped, the piglin hybrid clearing his throat uneasily. 

“You don’t have to go back.” Tubbo didn’t turn around, biting his lip with anger at how appealing the offer sounded, even after everything. “You could come with me and see Tommy, if you want.” 

Tommy? 

“Tommy’s in exile?!” 

Techno snorted haughtily, some of his old stubborn pride showing. 

“Was in exile, the little raccoon showed up and is living in my basement.” 

Tommy…

Tubbo wanted to see Tommy. He didn’t want to be president, he didn’t want to face an angry cabinet, he didn’t want to continue to stew in self-hatred that led to pain. The missing horn was proof of how bad that could be. But to go with Technoblade…

That would be betraying everything. 

Tubbo was torn with indecision. His hand dropped to his pocket, gently feeling the round compass that rested within. He could see Tommy. This wasn’t really a choice at all. 

“I don’t want to go back.” Tubbo spat out the words, having to force them out, to admit them to himself. Techno only nodded. 

“Then let’s go home.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one honestly isn't my favorite, but I'm really excited to share tomorrow's!!!
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!!  
> Thank you for reading <3  
> \--R&T


	14. Day 14: "I didn't mean it"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy says something in a moment of anger.  
> He immediately regrets it  
> Tubbo already believes it
> 
> Tubbo, Tommy, Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly super happy with this one!! Been dying to share it for a while
> 
> TW: interrogation/torture, self-hatred, negative self-talk, self-worth issues, referenced abuse and manipulation

**“Tubbo the discs, the discs are worth more than you ever were!”**

All the fight and anger left Tubbo at once, washed away by one simple sentence. Tommy glared daggers at him, fierce blue eyes screaming pain and betrayal, axe raised threateningly. 

Tubbo couldn’t stay there. He couldn’t face him, no, no…

Desperate eyes spun around the ruins of the community house, finding serious faces every direction he turned. Everyone was watching, everyone, he was trapped and Tommy…

Tommy looked so hurt and angry—

“Tubbo I—”

The smaller brunette pulled out an enderpearl and lobbed it over the side, hoping his aim was okay despite his shaking hands. He only had a moment to worry about it before his stomach twisted and he was somewhere else, next to the path, away from all the eyes. 

Where to go, where to go?

L’Manburg was a place of expectations and pressure, by the time he got there Quackity would be on his tail, telling him off for running away. It wasn’t like he could go to Tommy’s house either… not after he’d exiled him. But then there were voices and footsteps approaching and Tubbo fled.

On instinct the young president ran to the place he had once felt safe. The last place that had felt completely safe actually. Not that there was much of it left.

Tubbo ducked under burnt rafters, vines weaving around the splintered wood that remained of the once magnificent structure. His first home hadn’t survived the first war, it had lain abandoned ever since, Tubbo was honestly surprised no one had torn it down by now and built something in its place. He managed to stumble into the open-air interior of the remaining walls, ceiling non-existent and open to the blue sky above. 

Then Tubbo let himself drop, heavily leaning against a creaky wall as he sat on the ground, breathing too rapidly for comfort.

He deserved what Tommy had said and more. He knew it, he knew he wasn’t important…

Tubbo curled up on himself, drawing his knees up to his chest and burying his face in his arms. 

He had been a passible soldier for L’Manburg, he had been a poor spy for Wilbur, and he had been an abhorrent president for Tommy. He had been an even worse friend. 

The discs could make Tommy happy, the discs were important…

Tubbo wasn’t. 

“Hey.” Tubbo jerked, rapidly wiping tears out of his eyes, perhaps a little roughly. He shouldn’t be crying, not after he had just fled his responsibilities…

Oh, but they came to him, apparently. 

Dream stood in front of him, green jacket fastened with an array of leather straps and pouches. Ever the intimidating sight, Dream’s smiling mask hid his face, his body language and tone all Tubbo had to go on. And he sounded annoyed. 

“What? Uh… I’m sorry I ran off, I know that’s not a good look for a president.” Tubbo slowly stood, trying to regain any sense of dignity. There was no telling why Dream had followed him out here, but it probably wasn’t great.

“No, it’s a weak look for a president, though I’m sure we both know that you’re little more than a figurehead at this point.” Dream tilted his head, voice dripping with condescension. Tubbo accepted it mildly, nodding lightly.

“Sure Dream. Why are you here then?” Tubbo unconsciously took a step backwards as Dream moved closer, something inherently threatening in the set of the older man’s shoulders. 

“Because you have something I want, something that can make all your problems with me, all L’Manburg’s problems, go away.” 

Of course this was about the discs. It had always been, Tommy and the discs, ever since the beginning. Dream wanted power, and for some reason the discs were included in that effort. Tubbo felt guilt pool in his chest. Dream wanted power over Tommy, Tommy who had always stood against him, and the discs could give him that more than anything. 

But Tubbo had already betrayed Tommy once, and he didn’t feel like doing it again.

“I’m not giving you the disc Dream.” Tubbo sighed, this was going to be such an argument with his cabinet later—

“You misunderstand Tubbo. I’m not asking.” Dream pulled out a dark colored chest, setting it prominently to the side and gesturing to it with open hands. “Give me the disc you have, now.” 

“No!” Tubbo didn’t know where the sudden burst of energy was coming from, but he let it fuel him as he dropped the presidential decorum. “You aren’t getting the disc from me Dream.” 

With that Tubbo started walking towards the entrance, angling himself to pass Dream by. He took a step and—

All the air was knocked out of his chest, Tubbo was left gasping on his back, stunned after Dream kicked his feet out from under him. 

That stupid white mask hovered over him, innocent smile belaying the dark intentions of the man who wore it.

“What the hell!!” Tubbo coughed and sat up, rubbing the back of his head where it hit the rough wooden floor that remained. “What are you doing? I’m still the president Dre—”

Tubbo had gotten halfway to his feet before he doubled over, Dream’s fist colliding with his stomach, driving the air from his lungs once again. Now the small brunette was kneeling on the floor, taking harried breaths as his eyes teared up involuntarily. 

“Tubbo, really, you should just give me the disc.” Tubbo could see Dream circling in his periphery, fixed on target like wolf mid hunt. “You heard Tommy, he doesn’t even care about you, why not just give it to me?” 

“Because—” Tubbo spat out the words, forcing himself to his feet yet again. “Because he cares about the disc, and I still care about him! I can’t hurt him again, not after everything…” 

Dream was suddenly in front of him, towering over the younger boy, hands balled up in angry fists. 

“Then you’re more of a fool, more STUPID than I thought!!” Tubbo flinched as Dream lashed out, a gloved hand gripping his collar in vicelike grip as he ranted. “Listen Tubbo, just like everyone else on this fucking server, I don’t give a SHIT about you. Things will get very unpleasant, is it really worth it for someone who doesn’t even care?” 

Tubbo winced as he was shoved backwards, stumbling to stay on his feet. 

Was it? God, Dream was right, wasn’t he? No one cared…

Tubbo didn’t mean anything to anyone, even to his best friend.

But that…

“No.” Tubbo spoke the word with as much finality as he could muster. 

“No?” Dream sounded like he was smirking, proud of himself for bending yet another person to his will. 

“No, I’m not giving you the disc!” Tubbo snarled, and Dream crossed the space in an instant, pinning him against a support beam with an iron grip. “Fuck you!!” 

“You little—”

Tubbo didn’t comprehend the rest of what Dream said, because then there was pain, blinding as it burst across his face with the impact of a punch. Then he couldn’t breathe because Dream had drove another fist into the space below his ribs and his eyes were watering uncontrollably…

Tubbo tasted blood as his lip split open, collapsing to his hands and knees when Dream released him. 

“Give me the fucking disc!” Dream roared his demand. 

Tubbo couldn’t speak, but he didn’t need to, he just mutely shook his head, spitting a mouthful of bloody spit onto Dream’s boot as he did. 

That boot lifted and Tubbo saw stars. 

His head hurt but there wasn’t time to process because the boot was swinging back again and he could only cringe downwards and try to protect his head. Tubbo was flung bodily sideways as the next blow connected, and audible crack sounded loud to his ears when Dream went after his vulnerable ribs with the next few kicks. There was pain, the kind of bruising, broken hurt that Tubbo knew he would be feeling for days to come. 

Dream let up after a bit of this, Tubbo knew something had changed when there was a new pain, sharp and tugging against the top of his skull as Dream grabbed a handful of his brown hair and pulled up his head to face him. 

“This can all stop Tubbo, if you give me what I want, then this will all be fine.” 

Tubbo blinked away tears, dark-blue eyes hazy as he struggled to focus. Even though he hurt, even though everything ached, Tubbo had been through worse. He had been shot with fireworks and nearly burnt to death as a result after all. The teen had a higher pain tolerance than was expected of him, and his mind had a more pressing concern.

“Is this what you did…” Tubbo coughed out the words weakly, struggling against the pain of drawing breath past his broken ribs. “Is this what you did to Tommy, in exile?” 

Dream paused, and for a moment Tubbo was certain the man would kill him on the spot. But then his shoulders started to shake and—

Dream started laughing, cackling and wheezing, carelessly dropping Tubbo back down to the floor. Eventually he paused, hand reaching up to pull aside his mask, showing Tubbo malicious green eyes and a smug expression. 

“Sometimes, though Tommy was so glad to see me he didn’t really care.” Dream laughed again, eyes glinting as he chuckled in wry amusement. “Not that it matters to you, that’s not why we’re having this conversation.” 

Tubbo felt rage, fierce and blinding, overwhelming everything else; overriding his already weak self-preservation instincts. 

In a flurry of movement Tubbo lunged to his feet and dove for Dream, tackling him to the ground and landing a solid punch across that horrible smug smile. Dream was caught off guard, but he was bigger and stronger, and he wasn’t injured.

Tubbo yelped as he was tossed aside, though he immediately fought back the pain to go for Dream again and—

The president couldn’t hold back a shriek as white-hot pain erupted across his side. Instinctively his hands clasped to the cut, fingers getting a coating of blood almost instantly. Dream stood and wiped his mouth with his free hand, scowling as it brushed his bruised cheekbone. His other hand held a blade, now gleaming with a red tint. 

“That was a warning Tubbo, don’t test me.” Tubbo winced and spared a glance at the wound, it hurt like hell, but it wasn’t deep. Dream moved forward and held the knife to his throat, forcing him to tip his head back and away from the threatening pressure. “You will give me that goddamn disc, or I will kill you! Understand me? I will kill you right here, and no one will give a shit that you’re dead! No one will even know!!” 

“You kill me, and the disc is gone forever, locked in my enderchest.” Tubbo dared to challenge the words of a tyrant, letting the knife cut slightly into his neck to maintain eye contact. 

“That’s fine Tubbo!” Dream let out a dangerous chuckle, low and threatening. “I don’t care! If it’s gone then there is just the one disc, the one I have! It makes no difference, but I’m giving you a chance to hand it over, and live. Choose wisely.”

Tubbo breathed slightly easier as the knife was withdrawn from his throat. God everything hurt now…

Dream wasn’t wrong. If his disc was gone then Dream held everything. But Tubbo could only imagine the look on Tommy’s face if he found out Tubbo had given Dream the disc. The betrayal and hurt…

Tubbo wouldn’t want to see it, he would rather die than see that, his death would be worth it.

Tommy would rather have the disc anyway.

“I won’t—” Dream snarled before Tubbo could speak further, seeming to take his few words and lack of movement towards the ender chest as the refusal it was. 

Still Tubbo tried to back away as Dream stalked closer, tried to find an escape or any way he could—

Dream lunged and Tubbo rolled sideways, shrieking out a yell that turned to a painful sob as his arm was pierced with the knife. Dream withdrew it and continued to spin the blade in his hand. 

“Say yes and this will stop.” 

Another kick to the ribs had Tubbo prone, once again curling up in the fetal position to protect himself as much as he could. One arm hung uselessly at his side, pouring too much blood for comfort—

Then suddenly Dream was gone. 

It was as if the man had vanished, dipping away into the shadows in a breath, leaving Tubbo alone and gasping on the torn floor.

Why? What did Dream have planned? Was this some trick?

“Tubbo?” A new voice broke into his consciousness. Tubbo struggled to peer past his tears, to spot the source. “Tubbo I saw you go this way, please I—”

Light blue eyes and a mop of blond hair entered his line of sight.

“Oh holy shit, Tubbo! What happened to you?!” 

And Tommy was there, leaning over Tubbo, pausing when the smaller boy flinched away. 

“Go… get away Tommy.” 

There was no reason for him to be here. Tubbo knew Dream was lurking about, Tommy should leave.

Tommy helped pull him into a sitting position, cutting a length off his cloak to wrap around Tubbo’s arm.

“Who did this to you? What’s—”

“You’re just in time Tommy.” Tubbo didn’t miss the way his friend froze at the sound of Dream’s voice, withdrawing into himself, fear evident in his expression. He wished he wasn’t so weak, that he was strong enough to fight… “I was just convincing Tubbo here to give me the disc.” 

Tommy gaped openmouthed, Tubbo reached out to reassure him, grabbing his arm gently.

“It’s okay Tommy, I didn’t give it to him.” To his surprise, Tommy didn’t look relieved. Instead, the blond turned his surprised gaze towards him instead, mouth open like he was struggling to form words. 

“Really, I didn’t, the disc is safe.” Tubbo coughed roughly, vision blurring as it sparked pain anew.

Tommy’s face twisted into something incredibly conflicted.

He found his voice as Dream strutted towards them.

“Give him the disc Tubbo.” 

It was Tubbo’s turned to gape openmouthed. Tommy couldn’t mean that, surely not. The discs were so important, there was no way he would give them to Dream. 

“No! Tommy I didn’t, I won’t—” Tubbo lost his senses for a moment as Dream kicked him in the stomach, hearing faintly the sounds of Tommy’s curses and vehement protests. 

“Listen to Tommy, Tubbo. Give it to me.” Dream was partially blocked from Tubbo’s view now, Tommy having stepped between them bodily. 

“Tubbo, give him the disc. Just give it to him!” Tommy turned to look at Tubbo over his shoulder, face resolute. Tubbo couldn’t believe it. 

“No Tommy, I know the discs are worth so much to you! I won’t do it!” Tubbo could barely push himself upright with one good arm, his coughs became more frequent and painful, but then Tommy was at his side supporting him.

“Not worth you dying!”

But… but they were….

“You said—”

“I didn’t mean it! Tubbo I didn’t mean what I said back there, you are worth more than the discs a thousand times over, please just give them to Dream so I can get you the fuck out of here.” Tommy’s eyes dripped tears, constantly darting between him and Dream protectively.

“But… I’m not… the discs—” Tubbo wasn’t worth it. He knew he wasn’t. Tommy wouldn’t let him finish the sentence. 

“Tubbo, listen to me.” The blond moved around until he was directly in front of Tubbo, carefully holding onto his shoulders, supporting him and making them face each other. “I was angry Tubbo, I still might be, but what I said wasn’t the truth. You are worth so much more than the discs, worth so much more to me. I can live without the discs, I can’t—”

Tommy choked on his words, tears dripping down his face. 

“Please give him the disc Tubbo. For me.” 

Tubbo stared at his eyes, searching for a trace of hesitation or doubt. He found none.

Slowly he nodded. 

The chest was dropped in front of them without ceremony, and Tubbo reached for the latch, purple magic swirling as his hand came into contact with the lid. It opened into a space only he could access, and for a moment he hesitated. Tommy nudged his side gently, and Tubbo gave him a last look.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” 

Tubbo pulled the disc from the box, and Dream had it in an instant, tucking it back into his own ender chest within seconds. 

“Bye Tommy, bye Mr. President.” Dream spoke the last mocking words before he vanished, ender pearling away in a blink of an eye. Tommy let out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry Tommy, I’m sorry I—” Tubbo felt his throat tighten with repressed sobs.

“I know Tubbo, I know. Let’s get you some healing pots and gapples, alright?” Tubbo didn’t seem to have a choice in the matter, as Tommy was pulling him to his feet a moment later, drawing his good arm around his shoulders to help him walk and grumbling about him being too short.

The two worked their way slowly and painfully up the prime path, Tommy really the only thing keeping Tubbo on his feet and moving. It was so nice to be together again…

“Tubbo.” Tommy spoke up seriously, eyes fixed on the path ahead of them. “I didn’t mean it. I shouldn’t have said that, it wasn’t okay.” 

“I’m so sorry for exiling you Tommy, I never should have done that, you were right, I was a shit friend.”

The two walked in silence for a bit, the only sounds their footsteps and occasional pained gasps that Tubbo tried to stifle. 

“Let’s stick together now, okay?” Tommy spoke up almost nervously, glancing at Tubbo from the corner of his eye.

“Yeah.”

Tubbo felt a smile cross his face despite the aches and pain, despite everything. He was back with his best friend. Everything would be alright. Still… he couldn’t resist an old familiar joke, something that made it feel more official.

“Clingy.” 

“Why you—”

The two bickered and laughed as they made it to Tommy’s old home. Their challenges weren’t complete, and their journey was far from over, but they were together again. They could work things out. 

They knew what was worth most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my favorite one-shots I've written for Febuwhump, so I really hope you enjoyed.  
> That line has soooooo much angst potential......
> 
> As always, comments and thoughts are incredibly appreciated.  
> Thank you for reading!  
> <3  
> \--R&T


	15. Day 15: "Run, don't look back"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The egg continues to draw people under its control.  
> It knows that Technoblade would be a valuable asset, and it knows what people care about.
> 
> Technoblade, Philza, Badboyhalo, Skeppy, the Egg

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the Egg almost needs a character tag at this point 
> 
> TW: anxiety, panic attack, mind control, voices in head

“The egg knows what you care about Technoblade.”

The attempt to be threatening had been laughable in the egg-shaped meeting room a few weeks ago. Technoblade had joined Puffy in mocking Badboyhalo’s attempts at convincing him to join the egg and its weird cult-government thing it had going. When it was just one half-armored demon hybrid attempting to convince him that being mind controlled was a great idea.

It had been laughable then.

It wasn’t now.

Not with Philza at the end of a sword, surrounded by enemies with glowing red eyes and one cohesive goal in mind. 

Not with Ranboo curled in a desperate ball on the ground, screaming and covering his ears, trying to block out the egg’s words that Techno could only hear in muted whispers, since it had to compete with the thousands of other voices in his head. 

“I told you, the egg knows!” Bad sounded elated, happily bouncing even as he kept his sword steadily pointed at Philza’s back, the older man’s arms tightly gripped by two of the demon’s cohorts. “And—”

The speaker of the egg’s minions broke off, tilting his head curiously and staring at Ranboo for a long moment as the hybrid continued to writhe painfully on the floor. His head swiveled unnervingly to stare at Philza intently, pure white eyes unblinking. Technoblade took the time to evaluate. This had happened so suddenly, he wasn’t equipped for a big fight… but he could probably make do with what he had on him.

As always, he had his weapons and armor, the fight would mostly be a matter of making sure Philza, and to some extent Ranboo, got away safely. The piglin hybrid was confident he could do that. He gave Phil a significant look, alerting him with their easy understanding that he intended to fight. The thing was, Philza has a totem around his neck, hidden under his shirt. 

So if Technoblade attacked and they retaliated against Philza, it would be fine. He could use the burst of swirling magic as a distraction even, perhaps letting him take a couple of them out before—

“You don’t listen well enough Technoblade, listen to what the egg is telling you.” Bad grinned and returned to stand threateningly behind Philza. Techno took a deep breath in preparation to fight— “I listen!” 

Suddenly the dynamic shifted completely. The people under the eggs control released Philza’s arms and drew their weapons, an unexpected movement done so perfectly in tandem that a hivemind could be the only answer for their synchronicity. Techno was prepared to launch into combat, but a strangled cry forced him to freeze in his movements.

Techno saw red as his eyes found Philza, hands grasping pointlessly at the sword sticking through his chest. Bad pulled it back and the older man collapsed, wings splaying out around him as he fell to the ground limply. 

“I listened, and the egg told me everything I needed to know!” Bad grinned victoriously as he kept his sword pointed at Philza, even as the man was surrounded by a golden aura that swirled and thrummed magic. 

This changed things. 

Technoblade reluctantly lowered his own weapon, forcing himself to take a step back. 

“Hey…. Let’s just talk about this, you said the egg wants to destroy governments? I’m all for that, no need for, uhhhh…” Techno was not one to typically discourage violence, but this time he would make an exception. “No need for us to start something you aren’t prepared to finish.” 

Badboyhalo hummed wordlessly, continuing to hover his sword above Philza’s prone form as the older man cautiously sat upright, wounds healed and life saved. For the moment at least. 

“You know what we want Technoblade, the egg thinks you would be a really good asset to join our… community.” Bad seemed to still be the spokesperson for the egg, even with four others grouped around protectively. “And we want you to agree to come… visit it for a while.” 

It obviously wasn’t a suggestion. Technoblade nervously shifted.

“Sure I’ll come visit, maybe we can have some breakfast together or something.” Philza audibly groaned as Techno started cracking jokes, an anxious habit he never quite managed to break. “I could go for a nice omelet.” 

Bad was unamused, shaking his head disappointedly.

“You know what we mean.” The sword shifted dangerously close to Phil’s neck. Technoblade took an involuntary step forward.

“Why bother with all these formalities, you could have just left me a note or something, really adding unnecessary tension to the situation.” Techno’s attention shifted, he took another half step closer, focusing on Skeppy as the shorter man stared absently into the distance. “Did you go out and buy new clothes for this Skeppy? Really you didn’t need to, I know you felt like this was a big event and all, but you could have just asked.” 

Skeppy didn’t acknowledge his questioning, but Phil let out another deep sigh, rolling his eyes dramatically. For someone at knife’s edge Philza looked awfully unconcerned. Technoblade tried to tune out the thousands of voices screaming variations of “Blood for the blood God” and “Protect Philza”.

“Just drop your weapons and come peacefully, we won’t hurt him if you do.” 

Another couple hundred voices warned of lies and deceit, Technoblade didn’t release his grip on his sword.

“How about you let him go, and I’ll consider _not_ killing you all.” There was a pressing concern here that Techno didn’t miss. He didn’t think the egg could control him, there were just too many voices in his head constantly vying for attention, but Philza…

He couldn’t let Phil get exposed. Or die of course. That too. 

“Hey Phil?” Technoblade casually addressed his friend, who was now kneeling on the ground.

“Yeah mate?”

“When I say so, run, and uh… don’t look back.” Philza raised his eyebrows, but nodded sagely. They both knew Techno wouldn’t be able to fight effectively with him there, with the risk of him dying permanently hanging over his head. 

“What do you think you’re—” Bad’s objection was cut off rather rudely as Technoblade rushed forward, shoving Antfrost to the ground and leaping overtop of him to take a swing at the demon hybrid himself.

The sudden move forced Bad to raise his own sword in response, giving Philza a single moment of freedom. 

That was all he needed.

“Run Phil!! Go!” Techno shouted as he pushed Bad away, hoping for everything that Philza had followed his instructions. He couldn’t spare more than a glance to insure he was safely away before he was surrounded by violence. All five of the egg-controlled people moved as one unit, surrounding him with a fluid sort of cooperation that was difficult to counter. Punz dashed in with his axe, occupying Techno’s shield while Ponk darted back to load his crossbow. Antfrost recovered and jabbed with his trident—

They were overwhelming him, that much was obvious. He probably could have taken the lot of them on, if not for their unnatural coordination. No matter how he dodged they never got in each other’s way, never missed a chance to push their advantage. 

_And you thought you were too strong to need anything from me_

For the first time, Technoblade heard the egg’s voice clearly, and he was furious. How dare some stupid fetus in a shell tell him what he was and was not strong enough to do. 

“I’m gonna scramble this stupid egg with your blood!!” 

Techno grinned as his sword met flesh, Bad letting out a brief shriek that was quickly muffled as he fell back away from the battle. 

“One down, four to go, who’s next?” The remaining four didn’t falter in their attacks, intensity only increasing while Bad crawled off to lick his wounds. There wasn’t a respite to check on Philza, but he was confident the other man would be long gone by now. He wasn’t stupid. 

“You like the color red?! Have some more!!” Techno roared a battle cry as he ripped open Ponk’s side, not waiting to watch him fall before turning on Skeppy and shoving the shorter man bodily with his shield. Skeppy stumbled and Technoblade rushed him, raising his sword high to bring down in a deadly arc.

“NO! NOT SKEPPY!!!”

_NOT SKEPPY!!!_

Bad screamed and the egg screeched in the same heartbeat, loud in his ears and in his head. 

Techno faltered for a single instant, and it was his undoing. 

Someone barreled into him, taking him to the ground and wrenching his sword from his hand. Technoblade almost froze when he realized who it was. 

“I—don’t… The egg…” Ranboo was hyperventilating as he tried to scrabble away, voice breaking and dissolving into gibberish that Techno knew was Endermen language. He didn’t have time to reflect on it. Technoblade only had a moment to recover from Ranboo’s attack before something impacted the side of his head and he was seeing stars. 

He slumped to the ground as he was hit again, his last vestiges of consciousness leaving him despite his efforts to hang on. 

Technoblade’s last coherent thought was a simple wish, a hope that Philza remembered not to look back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to lovely discord peeps for helping me figure out what I was going to do for this prompt.   
> <333
> 
> And I hope you enjoyed, I've essentially made every prompt I've done about the Egg occur within the same universe, despite all the other one-shots being disconnected. Just for fun!  
> Thank you for reading!!  
> \--R&T


	16. Day 16: Broken Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's doomsday, explosions cause injures, who would have guessed.  
> Tommy takes a bad fall, but Tubbo is hurt as well...  
> This is a two-part story, continued in tomorrow's prompt "Field surgery"
> 
> Tommy, Tubbo, Philza, Technoblade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story in which no one has a good time
> 
> TW: graphic injury, explosions, anxiety, panic

It was so loud.

Tommy had to resist the temptation to just curl up and protect his ears, lay in a ball and accept the death that rained from the sky. 

But he didn’t. Instead the blond gathered himself and charged for the highest spot he could see, desperate to get up to the obsidian grid in the sky, to stop everything from continuing to fall apart around him. Tommy climbed up to the remaining buildings, leaping from balcony to rooftop with practiced ease despite the adrenaline flooding his veins. He was nearly high enough then—

“TOMMY!!!” Tubbo screamed a warning from somewhere below. Tommy glanced up just in time to see the dispensers over him activate, to see a white mask grin down, to see the first lit bundle of explosives fall far too close.

Tommy knew he would get blown off the rooftops if he continued climbing so he did the only thing he could. He jumped. 

The tall boy leapt off the edge, aiming for a relatively sturdy platform below him, already gritting his teeth against the pain he knew would come upon landing. He wasn’t wrong. 

Tommy tried his best to fall as he had been trained, to tap with his legs then let the force take him forward into a roll, but his left leg crumpled the moment he landed. His other ankle twisted beneath him as he crumpled ungracefully forward, falling into a heap as he tumbled across the platform. 

The wind was knocked out of him so completely that he was afraid he was dead for a moment, unable to draw breath into his lungs. Then the pain came and Tommy almost wished he was dead. He could feel one of the bones in his leg jutting wrongly against the muscles that surrounded it, so painfully incorrect that he almost screamed from the feeling. 

“Tommy! Tommy are you okay?!” The view of the black obsidian spiderwebbing against the blue sky was obstructed as Tubbo leaned over him, brown hair tracked with dried blood. 

“Uhh…” Tommy let out a groan, trying to evaluate. His leg was broken for sure, he knew it, and his other ankle felt—

“Tubbo move!” Tommy screamed as another stream of explosives rained down almost on top of them—Tubbo turned his body to face the threat and—

The world erupted.

Tommy was falling as the wooden platform and buildings just disintegrated around them. He reached out desperately with his arms, just managing to get a grip on Tubbo’s shirt as the other boy shrieked. The two tumbled through the air together and bounced off the rock wall beneath—

Tommy stirred to consciousness slowly and painfully. The thunderous noise of explosions was less than it had been before, but that could have been because of the incessant ringing in his ears. Slowly the blond pushed himself up, immediately yelping and dropping back down onto his side when sharp pain flared in his arm. 

Okay. So that’s hurt now too. 

“Tubbo?” He must have lost him in the fall… Tommy peered around, trying to spot his friend, hoping desperately—

“I’m here, Tommy I’m—” Tubbo’s voice was broken off by coughing. Tommy finally spotted him where he lay in the fetal position a few meters away. 

Why didn’t he come over to Tommy? A burst of concern sparked in Tommy’s chest. He had to get over there at least. 

Again, the boy pushed himself to a sitting position, this time using his uninjured arm. Tommy made the mistake of looking down at his legs and immediately regretted it. His left leg was messed up, it had a weird lump halfway between the knee and ankle that made Tommy feel sick to see. 

He forced his gaze away, choosing instead to fix himself on his goal, on Tubbo.

And holy fuck. Shit!

“Tubbo! Tubbo look at me!” Tommy started dragging himself towards his friend, knowing immediately that he wasn’t going to be able to walk. So he used his good arm and his right leg to work his way over, adrenaline allowing him to block out the pain in his ankle due to the pure panic of seeing Tubbo surrounded by blood. 

It felt like such a distance and Tommy had to fight for every centimeter, but eventually he made it, he grabbed Tubbo’s shoulder and gave him a cautious shake.

“Tubbo, come on my man! Where are you hurt?” Tubbo’s dark blue eyes blinked open, pain making them glassy. He willingly uncurled when Tommy continued to prod at him, letting the blond see the source of the blood.

“My chest… hurts to breathe…” Tommy grimaced and tried to keep his expression neutral. Tubbo’s chest and torso was covered in blood. His shirt was torn to pieces and—were those splinters of wood? Fuck. When the building exploded into shrapnel it must have…

“Tubbo, hey!” Tommy was having trouble assessing the injures with one arm, so he gritted his teeth and used the other as well, fighting through the deep pain in his forearm. “You’re going to be just fine, alright big man? Do you have any potions left?” 

Tommy could feel himself fading, he knew before long he would collapse himself, he had to make sure Tubbo was stable first. His head felt fuzzy, probably a concussion…

“Maybe, my bag…” Tommy quickly started digging around in the pouch tied to Tubbo’s belt, yanking his hand back when a piece of glass jabbed his palm. 

“Uhhh…” Tommy shook his head, trying to keep clear. He adjusted tactics and started removing the remaining shreds of Tubbo’s shirt, needing to see what he could do to help.

It was immediately obvious that Tubbo was in danger. There was one especially gaping wound towards the side of his upper ribcage that was just pouring blood, Tommy needed to do something! Again he reached for the pouch, this time cutting it off of Tubbo entirely and dumping the contents on the uneven stone beneath them. 

There! A bottle that was mostly whole caught Tommy’s eye, still half-full of deep fuchsia liquid. An instant healing potion! Okay, okay…

Tommy tried to keep focused. There looked to be enough for that biggest puncture at least; the blond carefully bent over his friend, lightly patting his face to keep him alert.

“Tubbo, Tubbo I found a healing potion, stay with me, okay?” 

“Okay Tommy…” Tubbo forced a weak smile. 

Tommy carefully started pouring the thick liquid into the wound, watching as it started to knit skin and muscle back together—

Tubbo shrieked, entire body writhing in pain, twisting in agony as Tommy futilely tried to keep him still.

“What’s wrong!? Tubbo!” The brunette gasped wetly, hands grasping at his own chest.

“It hurts!! Tommy help, Tommy please—” His pleading was cut off by a round of coughing, Tommy looked on in horror as blood started to leak from the corner of Tubbo’s mouth. What was happening? Tubbo was—

“Hang on!!” Tommy grabbed Tubbo’s shoulders, frantically looking around for someone, anyone, who could help them. There was no one visible in the ruins of a nation. Desperately Tommy scanned the rim of the crater, hoping to see anyone who might be able to—

The only person there was silhouetted by the slowly setting sun, wings half spread as he looked down upon his own work. 

It wasn’t like he could go to Philza for help. The man was the cause of this, along with Technoblade and Dream. He couldn’t possibly.

“Tommy…” Tubbo’s voice was weaker as his body was racked by painful coughs and sobs. “I—” He couldn’t finish the phrase.

Philza would have potions. He would know how to help, he could save Tubbo. 

But it was Philza. Would he even bother?

Tommy grabbed Tubbo fiercely, eyes flooding with fearful tears. 

“I’ll get help, just stay with me Tubbo.” At the sound of his name the smaller brunette shifted, semiconscious but alert enough to recognize the sound of Tommy’s voice. 

He had to try.

The first issue was going to be getting there in the first place. Tommy bit back a cry of pain as he shifted his weight, able to feel the bone in his left leg moving in ways that shouldn’t be possible. He could barely crawl when he was just trying to move himself…

Tubbo needed him to try. 

The blond cast about for anything that could help, anything at all. There was finally a burst of good fortune, as if the gods that be decided he needed something, as if they got tired of torturing him. The tattered ruins of a banner depicting the L’Manburg flag had landed within arm’s reach. Tommy pulled it next to Tubbo and laid it out somewhat flat, gathering one end in a bundle where it was tied with the rope that hung it.

Then began the torturous process of moving Tubbo onto the makeshift sled. Tommy only had one good arm, but Tubbo wasn’t aware of himself enough to provide any assistance. The blond saw stars as he dragged Tubbo over, pain flaring up from his arm and making him choke up. But Tubbo was finally there.

Tommy checked to make sure Philza was still on the edge of the crater. He was, the older man seemed to be chatting casually with Technoblade and gathering up the wolf-hounds they had set loose. He seemed impossibly far away. 

For a moment Tommy was tempted to just give up. To just sit down next to Tubbo and hold his hand while death crept ever closer. But he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t lose Tubbo again, not now, not ever!

Tommy grabbed the rope and tied it diagonal across his torso. Then he grabbed his sword in his good hand, dug the tip into the ground, and stood up. 

He couldn’t fight the cry of pain that burst from his throat as all his weight bared down on his one injured ankle. His left leg was too injured to support him at all, and the makeshift cane did painfully little. His ankle throbbed and protested… but he took a step. The brief moment that his weight shifted to his left leg was excruciating. He felt the broken bone move and shift—

Tommy screamed and took a single stumbling step. 

He got less than a meter forward before he collapsed. 

Tommy tried again and again to make progress, it was only when he briefly blacked out entirely that he began to weep. He couldn’t do this, he needed to save Tubbo, but he couldn’t even find the strength to crawl back and check if he was still breathing. 

The tall blond started to crawl on his hands and knees, rope digging into his shoulder as he dragged Tubbo behind him. Every jolt and movement jostled his broken bones, making him gasp and whimper. 

Eventually he just couldn’t go any further. Tommy sobbed as he managed to get back to Tubbo, to pull the smaller boy to his chest and beg him to still be there, to still be alive. 

He was still breathing. Tommy took deep breaths with the knowledge that he hadn’t failed yet. But Philza was still so far away… He needed to try.

“PHILZA!!!” Tommy screamed with all the breath in his lungs and all the desperation that had gotten him this far. 

The man he once considered a father didn’t even shift in his direction. 

“PHIL!! PHIL PLEASE!!” He was still too far away, he couldn’t hear him. 

Tommy fell into broken sobbing. 

“Please Phil, please…” Tommy looked at Tubbo and bit back all his pride and self-interest. 

“DAD!!!” 

Philza turned around. Great grey wings spread wide and in a blink of an eye Philza was aloft, diving down towards the injured boys in the crater. He stopped short, a few meters away, folding his wings behind him carefully. 

His armor gleamed. Philza was all presentable and shit, even now, it was infuriating. 

But Tommy couldn’t afford to be angry. 

“Phil, please help me. Tubbo’s going to die Phil, please…” For a moment the older blond looked entirely unmoved, his blue eyes regarded the scene passively. “I’m begging you, I don’t know what to do. He’s dying, please don’t just let him die!” 

Slowly Philza took a step forward, then another, then he was kneeling in front of Tommy. 

“I’ll help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow's prompt will be the second part of this mini-story!!
> 
> In other news, I have decided that tomorrow's prompt will be the last one I am doing for Febuwhump this year.   
> I have had such a blast doing them, but I've got some BIG stories planned that I want to focus on and get writing...  
> (I am SO EXCITED to write and share them....)  
> So keep an eye out for that if you enjoy my writing <3 
> 
> Thank you for reading, <333  
> \--R&T


	17. Day 17: Field Surgery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second part of the two-part story I started yesterday! Go read that one if you haven't yet! <3
> 
> Tommy and Tubbo are badly injured, Philza is here, but how much assistance will the man that helped cause this provide?
> 
> Tommy, Philza, Tubbo, Technoblade, Awesamdude and Puffy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone was so angry at Philza yesterday, and for good reason!!! Hopefully he makes some better choices now...  
> Also, the surgery itself is not accurate to real-world, because I realized that in a world where potions exist that can heal major tissue damage near instantly there would be a lot less concern for how you go about surgery. Basically I spent hours researching, then realized it was for nothing haha
> 
> TW: graphic injury, surgery (inaccurate because this is a fantasy world), anxiety

“What happened Tommy?” Philza knelt on the ground, carefully reaching out a hand towards his son and his best friend. He regretted the question as soon as it had left his mouth, obviously he knew what happened. 

He, Dream, and Technoblade destroyed L’Manburg, and the boys got caught in the explosions. It was a possibility, a risk that Philza had pushed to the side when they started off that morning… But now, with his son bleeding and broken in front of him… Some of his confidence faded away. 

He believed it was the right thing to do. The country corrupted people, had corrupted Wilbur, it needed to be gone for good. 

Tommy gasped for air, face covered in surprise that Philza had come down to help him. Another pang of emotion felt like it pierced the older man’s chest. 

“He, he’s got all this fucking shrapnel in him, from the explosions.” Tommy rolled Tubbo onto his back, painfully gritting his teeth when he used one of his arms. Philza couldn’t help but try to intercede.

“Tommy, let me fix you up, your arm is broken isn’t it? Let me get you somewhere safe and—”

“NO!” Tommy snarled at him, wincing away from his touch. “Help Tubbo! Please help Tubbo. I can’t… I need him to be alright Phil…” Philza watched as tears streamed down Tommy’s face. His son would never forgive him if he walked away now.

If he walked away again.

In the aftermath of battle, Philza could see more clearly that perhaps L’Manburgs influence wasn’t the only corrupting power in this world. 

“Alright.” Philza turned his attention towards the brunette laying on a tattered flag. For a moment he was sure that Tubbo was already dead, that Tommy had dragged a corpse across the battlefield, but as imperceptible as it was, Tubbo’s chest rose and fell. There were dozens of visible wounds, one arm was coated in new burns, undoubtedly Techno’s doing… but nothing that looked like it should be causing the smaller boy to tremble and cough as frequently as he was.

“Do you know what’s wrong with him?” Philza started bandaging wounds, listening carefully to the way Tubbo’s breath rasped in his chest. 

“He had a big puncture wound, on his ribs.” Tommy reached out a hand and pointed at the new scar, pink and smooth. “When I poured a healing potion on it he started screaming then passed out, he was coughing blood too.” 

“Shit.” Philza spoke the word without thinking, Tommy’s blue eyes, more grey than he remembered, opened wide in response. He answered the unspoken question. “There was probably a bit of shrapnel in that wound, it got pushed further in when the healing potion did its work from the outside in. And based on where it was… It’s probably in his lung now.” 

As if in response Tubbo stirred, gasping for air and writhing unconsciously. Philza tried to hold him still, he needed to move as little as possible. 

“Can you save him?” Tommy sounded so desperate, so broken.

“I can try. I will need to remove the shard of whatever is in his system, so his lung can start working like it’s supposed to again.” Philza regarded the injured boy with a certain amount of detachment, as much as he could muster. Likely Tubbo would die in the next few minutes, long before Phil actually had a chance to do anything. Besides that…

Philza’s hands brushed over the pouches on his sides, he had too few healing potions to do this properly. Suddenly having used a bunch of them on mildly injured wolves seemed foolish. His eyes turned towards the cliff face, where Technoblade stared down at him expressionlessly. Philza raised his hand and gestured, wordlessly asking Techno to come down to where he was. 

“Tubbo, hey big man, hang in there okay?” When Philza turned back Tommy was leaning over Tubbo, carefully taking his hand and visibly trembling as he tried to offer comfort to his best friend. His son’s best friend who was—dying in front of him. God. Holy shit.

What had he done?

“What’s all this Phil?” Technoblade snorted as he approached, casually hefting a sword on his shoulder, a completely unnecessary threat. Tommy lifted his head to glare protectively at the piglin, fierce despite his injures. Philza doubted the blond could even stand. 

“I need your potions, I know you’ve got some.” Philza held his hand out, unsurprised when Techno scoffed. 

“For what? Philza, that’s the president, or did you forget?” Technoblade forced a haughty laugh. “He’s laying on the flag if you need a reminder.” 

Phil grimaced. He was the president, part of what they came here to destroy. He’s also a person. 

He’s a person and he’s Tommy’s best friend. And he’s dying. 

“Technoblade, I am going to try to save him, one way or another.” The older blonde’s hand crept towards the magical totem that laid against his chest, his only protection against a permanent death. Techno stiffened, obviously noticing the motion. 

“Bruh, come on, let’s just go before anyone else shows up.” Techno sighed in annoyance. “I’m not helping you heal the exact thing we came to destroy, that just doesn’t make sense.” 

Philza let his face drop into a disappointed frown. Tubbo’s breathing grew less steady by the moment.

“What happened to ‘For you the world, Phil’?”

A heavy silence fell over them both. Technoblade just stared for a long moment, a trace of hurt in his eyes, something only Philza himself would notice. Then the piglin relented, sheathing his sword and handing Philza a whole bag of potions and medical supplies. 

Philza found a regen potion and propped Tubbo upright, shaking him lightly, then tapping on his collarbone when he didn’t get a response. Tubbo coughed and stirred, eyes flickering open and shut. He was conscious enough to drink it, and that’s what mattered. Philza gently laid him back down, not missing how Tommy’s eyes followed his every move. 

“Tech, can you treat Tommy’s injuries?” Philza was half-certain Technoblade would just walk away, still stinging from the perceived betrayal that Tommy had inflicted upon him at the community house. Instead the piglin walked around Tubbo, refusing to even glance at the brunette shivering on the ground, and crouched down next to Tommy. 

He silently reached out a hand and started examining Tommy’s injuries. Philza knew Techno would help Tommy, if only for Phil’s sake. Still, he flinched when Tommy cried out in pain, Techno firmly gripping his leg and setting the bone. 

Philza shook his head and forced himself to focus. He laid out everything he would need, lastly drawing a small knife and taking a deep breath. 

The possibility that Tubbo would die by his hand was paralyzing. The knowledge that it was his hands that had done this was painful.

Philza forced himself to press through the fear. He made an incision above the scar, pushing the knife in deeply on the first go, holding a rag around the edges tightly to reduce blood loss. A pair of pliers were at the ready, pulled from Techno’s medical kit. Tubbo jolted, jerking upwards and gasping dangerously. Philza had to pause what he was doing to grab his shoulders and hold him down. 

“Tubbo! Phil what are you doing?!” Tommy tried to weakly shove him away, doing what he thought was protecting his friend. It was easy enough to keep him at bay.

“I’ve got to get the shrapnel out Tommy, it won’t heal if I don’t.” Tommy backed off slightly, but Tubbo continued to writhe and sob. His dark blue eyes were open, though Philza was certain he wasn’t aware of what was happening. All the boy knew was that he was being hurt, that he needed to fight back. He didn’t know that he was preventing the only thing that might save him. 

“Tech…” Philza didn’t want to ask more of him, he knew he was already pushing it by having him splint Tommy’s bones, but…

There wasn’t much of an option. 

Techno reluctantly moved closer, glaring daggers at Phil as he helped hold Tubbo down, pinning him to the ground none-too-gently. With Tubbo restrained Philza got back to work, carefully, precisely, getting the pliers in next to the knife. If he withdrew the blade now Tubbo would bleed out in moments. He had to get the shard of wood out first. 

But finding it… through blood and flesh…

“Stay with me Tubbo, please, just listen to my voice big man, stay here.” Tommy pleaded as Tubbo’s breathing grew ever fainter. Likely both his lungs were collapsed, but the other one could be healed with potions, if he lived long enough. 

“Dammit.” Philza had briefly found the piece of shrapnel with the edge of the knife, but he couldn’t locate it when it mattered. 

Tommy’s pleading grew into sobs as Tubbo stilled, all the fight seeming to leave his body at once as every ounce of energy went towards taking gasping breaths, trying to get enough oxygen to sustain life. 

There!

Philza grasped the offending spike with the pliers, making sure he had a proper grip before adjusting. One hand found a potion, the bottle having a long neck for pouring into puncture wounds just like this one. The other held the pliers and knife handle in a white-knuckled grip. A cloth sat at the ready. A deep breath.

“Hold him still.” Philza withdrew the implements in as fluid of a motion as he could manage, gasping despite himself when he saw the nearly six-inch long shard of wood that had been imbedded in Tubbo’s chest. They were tossed to the side as he poured the healing potion directly into the wound, pressing a cloth to it firmly as soon as the bottle was empty. Blood soaked into the fabric instantly.

“Keep breathing, you can do it Tubbo, don’t leave me now big man…” Tommy held Tubbo’s hand in his own, tears dripping down his face as Philza worked to stop the bleeding. “Please don’t leave me.”

Another regen potion. More healing potions—

The next minutes were filled with frantic activity, trying to help the boy who was holding onto life by a thread. Philza imagined he could see it. The fragile string of life trying to slip away, Tommy grasping the glowing thread with desperate fingers, trying to force his friend to stay with him. 

Finally Tubbo’s breathing evened out. It steadied. Philza released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Tommy seemed to realize at the same time Phil did, suddenly dropping to his side on the filthy flag, holding Tubbo close, relief flooding his features. With the knowledge that Tubbo would be alright the last of Tommy’s energy seemed to leave him. 

“Mmm thank you Phil.” Tommy murmured the words softly, one arm and both legs now wrapped in splints and bandages. Philza opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it. 

He had done this after all. 

He wasn’t… just because he had done one good thing didn’t mean he was fit to take care of them now. 

It didn’t mean that at all. 

Technoblade seemed to agree, gathering up some of their supplies and heading towards the cliff face without a word. Philza spread his wings to follow, then hesitated. He turned back towards the two boys for a moment longer, both laying on the uneven ground, seemingly already unconscious. 

“I’m sorry Tommy.” He didn’t get a response. He didn’t expect one.

When Philza lifted into the air he took a short detour before going back to the cabin he and Techno shared.

The two figures he searched out were defensive and surprised to see him, but both rushed towards the crater once he told them the boys were there, alone and vulnerable. 

Philza was confident that AweSamdude and Puffy would take care of them. 

They would probably do a better job than he would.

Who was he kidding, they certainly would do a better job than him. 

His heart ached as he recalled Tommy’s shout, his voice broken and terrified, when he first caught his attention from the newly-formed cliffside. 

Dad. 

He didn’t deserve that title. 

Philza knew that now. He knew… he had screwed up. 

Maybe someday… somehow… maybe he could set things right. 

But he was confident about one thing. Responding to Tommy’s cry for help, saving Tubbo, those were steps in the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said yesterday, I have some big things planned, including starting the next installment of my Winding Roads series, so this will be the last one-shot I post for Febuwhump  
> I've really, really enjoyed participating in this event this year!!! But I want to work on a couple, much longer, Au stories (one outline is over 12 pages....) and don't have time to do both those and keep up with Febuwhump
> 
> I hope you've enjoyed!! Thank you so much for all the support and for reading. <3  
> \--R&T

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you're enjoying these stories.  
> Though I don't commit to doing all of them, I have so many plans...  
> I have several other projects in the works as well, and completed stories you can check out on my profile if you enjoyed. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!


End file.
